All Over Again
by QuidditchSeason1977
Summary: Alexis Potter thought the war was over. Turns out Prof. McGonagall concocted a scheme that means she has to do it all over again. Travelling with her nearly four year-old godson Teddy to her parents' sixth year was definitely not on her bucket list. Features time travel and fem!Harry. Rated for violence.
1. Prologue

When I ascended the stairs, I had no idea what was waiting for me. I didn't know what I was going to be asked to do, or the risk they were going to ask me to take. I just didn't know.

Would I have even gone up those stairs if I had known? Probably not.

I suppose I should introduce myself. My name is Alexis Lily Potter and I used to be Harry Potter. Yeah, I know. You're wondering how one can _become _a girl. Truth is, I have no idea. I went to sleep the night before my seventeenth birthday as Harry and I woke up as Alexis. Not even Remus knew how I became the way I am. Not that it mattered at the time, I had to kill Voldemort.

Now, however, I've done that. I've become older and wiser and just generally grown up. I don't really have any friends or people I can call friends anymore. My parents, Sirius, Remus, Tonks, most of the Weasleys, Hermione, they are all dead. I found out that Dumbledore spied on me. Apparently he knew that Voldemort had to kill me, but he didn't tell me! Whatever, I've moved on.

It was a few years after the war ended. I was twenty now and spend my days taking care of Teddy (my godson) and hiding in Grimmauld Place from the press and fans.

At least until today. Today I was climbing stairs up to the office of the person who I used to call my mentor. Professor McGonagall had sent for me. She was one of the few people I still trusted, so I came - but only because she asked me to.

"Ah, hello Alexis," said Professor McGonagall. "I thought you might be a little uncomfortable in this office, so I've arranged for us to speak in the staff room."

"Thank you, Professor," I replied.

"Dear, don't call me that! I haven't been your Professor in years. It's Minerva, understand?"

"Alright...Minerva." That was going to take some getting used to.

"How's Teddy doing?"

"He's fine. Started talking. Keeps calling me 'Mum'. I don't know what to do about it. I think it would be best if he did, but I don't want to disrespect Tonks."

"In my opinion," said Minerva, "you should let him. Tonks and Remus left him in your care because they thought you were the best person to care for him - to become his 'Mum'."

"Yes, I suppose you're right," I said.

"Well, anyway, to the purpose of this meeting." Minerva took a deep breath. "I want to save as many people who died as I can. I want to send one person back in time to when the war got really bad to stop it."

"And you want that person to be me."

"Yes."


	2. Chapter 1

Why did I agree to this again? I wondered as I climbed up the stairs to the office of the man I really didn't know how I felt about. Did I mention that it was 1975?

No? Sorry about that.

Anyway, I was heading up to Dumbledore's office, to apply as Defense Professor. Minerva had arranged everything for me: a bank account, a resume, and even fake OWL and NEWT grades (well, they weren't fake since I _had _done the tests, just not in that time period…)

When I had arrived, I went to Gringotts and asked them to buy me a house elf. I knew that if I wanted this job, I would need an elf to take care of Teddy.

That's right, Teddy came with me. It was my condition for taking on this assignment.

Anyway, it was July 15, 1975, and I was about to apply for a job.

Knocking on Dumbledore's office door, I knocked and heard the man's customary "Come in!"

Taking a deep breath, I entered.

Now, my orders were clear. I was to apply for the job and teach the students to defend themselves. If I found promising students, I was to arrange a DA sort of group for them, only not under that name and school sanctioned. I was not, under any circumstances, to tell anyone I was from the future. I had trained hard for this mission. I had learned Muggle and magical means of defense, Animagus transformation (I had three forms), Legilimency, Occlumency, and how to withstand the Imperius and Cruciatus Curses and how to lie under Veritaserum.

Anyway, here I was, entering Dumbledore's office.

"Ah, hello," he said, standing to shake my hand and motioning me to a seat in front of his desk. "I'm Albus Dumbledore and I understand that you are here for the Defense Against the Dark Arts post?"

"Yes," I said confidently despite my inner nerves. I handed him my resume. "My name is Alexis Potter."

"Really?" he asked, looking up from my documents. "I was under the impression that there was only one family of Potters."

"Yes," I said, "that's what most people also believe. My father was a squib descended from a long line of squibs. My mother was a Muggleborn Beauxbatons graduate. She homeschooled me."

"Ah," he said, looking back down. "Well, you may be interested in knowing that we actually have a James Potter in attendance right now."

"Really?" I said nervously - I'd forgotten that my parents would still be at school!

"Yes, he'll be in your sixth year class. Well, Miss Potter," he said as he looked up at me, "I see no reason not to hire you. You're qualifications are much better than those we've seen in previous years."

"There is one other thing you should know about me, Professor," I said. "I'm the legal guardian of my godson, Teddy. I have a house elf that will care for him during classes, but he would be coming to school with me."

"How old is your godson?"

"He'll be four in April."

"Well, I see no reason not to hire you just because of that. Oh," he added, "we do have a werewolf attending school. If that's going to be a problem, I'm afraid I won't be able to hire you."

"No, that's no problem. Teddy's father was actually a werewolf. I have no problems with them."

"Excellent!" beamed Dumbledore. "Welcome to Hogwarts! If you'll give me your Gringotts account details, I'll send your salary there." I handed him a parchment with the vault number written on it. "Thank you. Now, let me show you around the school. I'm afraid that it's a bit confusing at first, but you'll be able to find your way around eventually. One last thing before I forget," he added quickly, "I will need you to tell me the textbook you'll be using for your class before July 20. I know that's rather short notice, but students will need time to go buy their supplies."

"That's fine," I said. "I'm heading to Diagon Alley tomorrow anyway, so I'll browse Flourish and Blotts while I'm there."

As we walked, Dumbledore explained the points system, detentions, Prefects, the Head students, curfew, and gave me a copy of the rule book, advising me to memorize it because some students would try to use the wording to get out of detentions.

I wonder why I thought of the Marauders when he said that?

The next day, as promised, I spent about an hour picking out my textbooks - and letting the shop owners know my selections, so they would have enough in stock. My textbooks (in order of year) are as follows:

_A first Defense_ by Clair Mellown

_A Second Defense_ by Clair Mellown

_Protection: The Method to the Madness _by Rihanna and Chris Rinal

_Perfecting Your Defense _by Alexandra Murphey

_Beating the Unbeatable _by Chris Rinal

_The Dark Forces and the Weaknesses Behind Them _by Alexandra Murphey

_The Best Offence is Defense _by Chris Rinal

_Offense: How can it Become Defense? _by Rihanna Rinal

I had decided on two books for my seventh years.

After my sojourn at the bookshop, I went to Madame Malkins for teaching robes, plus a few more formal ones for myself and daily robes and formal robes for Teddy. I also picked up plenty of quills, ink, parchment, and toys to keep Teddy occupied during the day.

After that, I went to The Leaky Cauldron, paid Tom for my stay, and sent Miza (my house elf) to Hogwarts with our things, while I Apparated with Teddy.

After leaving Teddy with Miza, I went up to Dumbledore's office to let him know my textbooks. After that, I headed up to my office and began figuring out my lesson plan.

I decided that the first class would be a sort of question-answer period for all of the years. For the second through seventh years, I would also ask what they had already learned and what they wanted to learn. Then, I thought back to my own Hogwarts years and based many of my lessons around what I had needed to know.

When that was finished, it was time for dinner, which I had in the Great Hall with the other staff members.

After dinner, I began writing my plan for my "special defense group". I decided that I would start with a small group of people, train them up to par, and then start teaching other students. For my 'core group', I decided that I wanted people from various backgrounds, years, and at least one from each house, but no one from under fourth year. I figured that I wanted someone who was good with strategy (and thought longingly of Ron), someone with good research skills (here I thought of Hermione), at least two people with the ability to sneak about without getting caught, someone who was good with Runes, someone good at Arithmancy (oh, I wished I'd taken that and Runes instead of Divination!), someone who could speak (or learn) many different languages, someone who could brew healing potions, at least two who could heal, someone who could negotiate (prices for the ingredients we would need to buy - I'd 'borrowed' some of the recipes for some of the Weasley twins' more useful products and planned to make them so we could use them) and someone with political connections at the Ministry. That was about eleven people. Of course, people could fit in more than one position, and it was always possible to have more than one person fill each spot. However, I didn't want more than fifteen people in my core group because it would become more difficult to train each student up to par.

**(A/N: There you go, this is my new story. As you can see, it is fem!Harry and time travel. I will continue to update, I have finished fifteen chapters already, once a week or so, and will write more as fast as I can. Let me know how you liked it through a comment or PM. Feel free to favorite or follow as well!)**


	3. Chapter 2

It was the first day of school. I was terrified. What if the students didn't like me? What if I couldn't find students for my defense group? What if I did, but I didn't train them well enough and I led them all to their deaths?

Okay, Alexis, I told myself, snap out of it. You can do this. It's not impossible. You'll be fine.

I left instructions for Miza to put Teddy to bed at 8 if I wasn't back yet, put on a set of deep purple formal robes, decided to leave my hair loose and walked down to the Great Hall.

I sat next in between Professors Flitwick and Itara (the Herbology Professor). Professor Flitwick, or Filius as I was now to call him, was the same as I remembered. Professor Clair Itara was a petite witch in her sixties. She was head of Hufflepuff and almost always had some form of dirt on her. Tonight, for example, she had a smear of mud across her left cheek. She had quickly become a sort of mentor to me after finding out this was my first year teaching an organized class. She warned me about every student that could cause trouble and told me who the intelligent students were. I found her advice both helpful and overwhelming.

As the students swarmed in, many of them gave the staff table a scan to see who the new Defense Professor was. I could hear them whisper as they noticed me and pointed me out to their friends:

"She looks so young!"

"She's so hot!"

"I hope she's better than our last teacher."

"I hope she doesn't assign much homework!"

I watched the students come in, scanning the Gryffindor table for my parents and their friends. I spotted a flash of red hair. It was my mother! Then I realised that if I was going to be teaching my parents, I should really start thinking of them as Lily Evans and James Potter, not mum and dad. _Especially _since I was older than them.

_Lily _was sitting next to a girl that had the same facial structure as Neville Longbottom's had been. I realised that this could only be his mother, Alice. I couldn't remember what Alice's maiden name had been, but I'd find out eventually. Sitting across from Alice was a boy who had the same hair color and general body structure as Neville and I realised that this was his father Frank.

Over at the Slytherin table, I saw Severus Snape, looking exactly like he had when he'd died, only shorter. Next to him could only be Regulus Black. I quickly scanned the rest of the Slytherin students and decided that those were the ones I wanted for my special group. Severus because he was brilliant with potions and Regulus because he could be my source of information from both Slytherin and the Dark Pureblood families.

Then, I heard a burst of laughter and my focus switched to the doorway. Entering was Sirius, Remus, _Peter_ (he was innocent! He didn't get his Dark Mark until after he graduated), and _James_. They sat in the four empty spots that were obviously unofficially their spots. I nearly laughed because that was exactly where the 'Golden Trio' had sat during their Hogwarts years.

Then Professor McGonagall led the first years to the front of the Hall. She placed the hat on the stool and it began to sing:

"Oh Hogwarts, Hogwarts,

We come here to learn!

But I have a most important task,

I sort you to the House where your place you'll earn!

There's Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave at heart,

Then Slytherin,

Where cunning will prevail,

Next Ravenclaw,

If you've a keen and ready mind,

Finally Hufflepuff,

For those just, loyal, and true!

But Hogwarts, Hogwarts,

I warn you now:

Don't let your House divide you!

For if you do,

Then all is through

And Dark has won at last."

On that solemn note, the Hat fell silent. After thinking about it, I realised that I could do something about the House lines. I smiled, those who had my classes tomorrow would definitely be surprised!

After the first years were sorted, Professor Dumbledore stood and began the Start-of-Term Announcements.

"Welcome, first years, to Hogwarts! To everyone else, Welcome back! As usual, the Forbidden Forest is just that - forbidden. Anyone not desirous of detention should stay away. The list of banned items, for those who wish to know, can be found in Mr. Filch's office. Also, this year's Head Boy is Ravenclaw's David Corner," David stood up and waved, "and the Head Girl is Hufflepuff's Megan Grasan," Megan also stood up, "see them or a prefect if you need help." The head students sat back down.

"This year we welcome to the Defense against the Dark Arts post on a hopefully more permanent basis than our last professors' have been, Professor Alexis Potter!" I stood and smiled to polite applause. I saw, out of the corner of my eye, the Marauders whispering together and questioning James about his 'relative'. I wondered how long it would be before the Marauders, or at least James, came to interrogate me.

"Yes, welcome Professor Potter," said Dumbledore with a smile. I sat back down. "That's all for announcements, so we shall begin our most excellent feast."

After the feast, I started to walk back to my rooms. On the way back, James caught up to me. "Professor, could we speak for a moment?"

"Of course, we can speak in my office," I said and led the way.

My office was just around the corner from my classroom and wasn't anything really special. I had my desk and chair with a couple of simple chairs in front of my desk. My desk and the chairs in front of it were made of mahogany, as was my chair, but my chair had a burgundy cushion. On my desk. I had a few pictures of Teddy and some cleverly faked pictures of my parents from this timeline. I sat down behind my desk and looked at James.

"Can I get you something to drink? Tea, maybe?" I asked.

"Oh, sure, Professor," said James hesitantly.

"Miza!" Miza popped in. "Could you get some tea from the kitchens for us, please?" Miza nodded and popped away. She returned a moment later with a tea tray and some biscuits.

"Help yourself," I invited. James took a cup of tea and took a small sip. He was nervous, I thought. "So, what can I do for you tonight?"

"Well, my name is James Potter, and… well, when I was growing up, my parents always told me that I didn't have any Potter relatives, so you can imagine my confusion when…" he trailed off.

"When your new Defense professor happens to have the last name 'Potter'," I finished for him. He nodded. "Well, I think I can clear that up for you. My father was a squib and my mother was a Muggleborn Beauxbatons graduate. I was born in France, but moved here when I was about seventeen. Only a few months ago, my parents were killed by Death Eaters."

"Oh," said James looking stricken, "I'm sorry I asked, then."

"Don't worry about it," I said, waving a hand airily. "My father's surname was obviously Potter, but you probably don't know about him because, as I said, he came from a long line of squibs. His line also mostly lived in the Muggle world."

"Thank you for answering my question, Professor," said James hesitantly.

"It wasn't a problem," I said with a smile.

"If you don't mind me asking another question, who is in those pictures on your desk?"

"Well most of these are of my godson, Teddy," I said, pointing at one such picture. "He's a Metamorphagus," I added after the picture changed its hair colour from black to turquoise. "These," I said as I picked up the only picture of my 'parents' "are my parents, Jason and Rose Potter."

I had more or less kept 'Jason's' picture the same, I'd only changed his eyes to be brown instead of hazel and his hair was less messy. Rose's picture had been almost completely changed. Her hair was now curly and blonde and her eyes (like mine had been glamored to be) were a less vivid shade of green. It was closer to jade green then Avada Kedavra green.

"Oh," said James, not really knowing what to say.

"Well, curfew is approaching, and it wouldn't do for you to get detention on your first night!" I said with a smile. "Off to bed with you. Good night!" I said while making a shooing motion with my hands.

Returning to my quarters, it was nearly eight and Miza had Teddy all nearly ready for bed. I read him a story and told him goodnight before retiring to my own bed for the night. I had my parents and the Slytherins first thing tomorrow. It would be interesting, that was for sure.

**(A/N: I know it's not long, but it will have to do. Now, this is VERY IMPORTANT, so PLEASE don't skip over this:**

**This story has two phases. I started writing this in February of 2014 and stopped in March or May. I've recently dusted this off and have discovered that I find my previous writing somewhat lacking. However, since its exams and I'm lazy, you'll just have to deal with what I consider to be slightly substandard writing. You will also have to put up with the fact that Teddy is mentioned about twice in the next twelve or so chapters, which I also apologize for.**

**Anyway, I also posted a James/Lily one-shot if you want to check it out. Or don't, I don't care either way.**

**Thank you to all those who favorited/followed/reviewed! To new readers, please feel free to favorite/follow/review. See you next week!)**


	4. Chapter 3

**(A/N: As I have forgotten to do this, please consider this the disclaimer for this chapter, all chapters following, and all chapters preceding. I don't own Harry Potter, never will own Harry Potter, and am not writing this to earn money of any kind.)**

Waking on the morning of September 2, I was equal parts excited and terrified. I'd felt much the same before the first DA meeting.

I was thinking about my 'special defense class' (which needed a better name). I figured about two weeks to figure out who I wanted, another two weeks to recruit them all, and then I wanted to have them trained and battle ready for the start of Easter break. I had plans for Easter, and I would need help pulling them off.

Anyway, it was about seven o'clock, so I woke Teddy up and got him and myself ready for the day. Today I wore a set of plain robes (similar to the ones the students would wear) in a nice leaf green. Underneath, I wore a pair of Muggle jeans and a green t-shirt. I had placed my hair in a simple French braid (after about twenty minutes of trying) and used only a little touch of mascara. There was a time and place for makeup, and this wasn't it. I dressed Teddy in a set of plain blue robes that he picked out. After he was wearing them, he switched his hair to match them and his eyes the same green as mine.

At about eight, we went down to the Great Hall for breakfast. I watched as the Heads of House (Filius, Clair, Minerva, and Horace as I was now calling them) passed out the timetables.

"Nervous?" asked Clair when she returned.

"Terrified," I admitted.

"You'll do fine," she said, patting my hand in a comforting manner. "You have sixth year Slytherins and Gryffindors first, right?"

"Yes."

"Well, you'll get your most difficult class out of the way first, then," she said cheerfully. Funnily enough, this didn't make me feel much better.

After I finished breakfast, I returned Teddy to Miza's care and headed up to my classroom. I quickly surveyed the room, just to make sure that Peeves or the Marauders hadn't come and rearranged my furniture.

I'd spent two weeks setting up my classroom to my satisfaction, and cursing the fact that I couldn't use the Room of Requirement for lessons. The desks were set up in only the front half of the room, where my blackboard and desk were. In the back half of the room, I'd placed mats with a charm that would make them soft to land on, but firm to walk on. I'd spent hours carving runes in that would keep all spells in that area of the room.

At the front of the room was a rather special seven compartment trunk. In each compartment was enough training dummies for each of my students to have their own. They would only be able to fight against the student they were keyed to and would know the strengths and weaknesses of that student.

Those had been what had really taken the bulk of my time.

I pulled out my sixth year textbook (_The Dark Forces and the Weaknesses Behind them _by Alexandra Murphy) and the parchment with notes on what I wanted to accomplish this period. There weren't many, this would be a question and answer period mostly, along with keying students to dummies and going over what I wanted to accomplish with them this year. I nervously perched on my desk while I waited for the students to arrive.

As the warning bell rang, students began pouring in. Predictably, Lily Evans and her friends Alice and Frank were first and sat in the front row. They were followed by a mixture of students from both Gryffindor and Slytherin. Conspicuous by their absence were the Marauders.

Just as the final bell rang, the four boys ran in. "Sorry we're a little late, Professor," said Remus apologetically.

"Not to worry, we haven't started yet. Take your seats," I said with a smile. They moved to the middle of the class. I got the feeling that they normally sat in the back, but were willing to sit a little farther forward as a show of support for James' long-lost relative.

Taking a moment to center myself I faced the rest of the class. This was a small class, like all of my NEWT classes. There were only twenty, about half girls and half boys and the same for the Gryffindor/Slytherin ratio.

"Alright, let me just start with attendance. If you could raise your hand when you answer, that would be very helpful."

After taking attendance (I was unsurprised that Severus Snape had also made it into the class - he may have been my least favorite professor, but he _did _know what he was talking about when he'd taught the course), I stood and began.

"Welcome to NEWT level Defense against the Dark Arts. As you heard last night, my name is Alexis Potter. This is when most of your teachers will tell you about the importance of your NEWTs and how hard you will be expected to work." I paused, "I'm not going to do that.

"If you are in this class, I expect you to do your best. You are expected to be here every day. Nothing short of being in the Hospital Wing will excuse you from my class. And don't worry, I'll check with Madame Pomfrey to make sure that you were actually there," I smirked a little. "As far as I'm concerned, House or Quidditch rivalries don't exist in this room. If you have a problem with that, I'll be happy to demonstrate some spells on you." I smiled a smile that had struck fear into Voldemort himself. "As long as you don't cause problems with me or your fellow classmates, we'll get along just fine. If you don't, well… I'm sure that Mr. Filch has some toilets that need cleaning."

After I made my threat, I smiled a genuine smile. "Now, I'm not a believer in homework, so I won't assign much," there were a few titters and the Marauders grinned, "but what I do assign I expect to be done well.

"So," I said clapping my hands, "I'm sure you're all curious about me, so I have a few things to explain to you, and then I'm going to answer questions that you ask me."

"In this trunk," I pointed, "is a training dummy for each of you. They will be keyed to you alone and will only fight you. You are not allowed to use spells against anyone except myself and your dummy. Offensive spells are only to be used on the blue mats at the back of the classroom. The area has been warded so that no magic will escape into the rest of the room.

"You'll notice that I said 'offensive spells'," I grinned. "You'll want to make sure that your wand is accessible at all times during this class because you never know when I might decide that you're a good target for a tickling jinx. Blocking my jinx will result in House points. Failure to block will result in nothing more than a loss of breath, but you will want to remember that our society is at war and the failure to block an unknown spell could result in much worse."

The mood was a little solemn now, so I decided to lighten it. "On another note, much of this class will be physical as I teach you to stay alive in a duel or other fight. Therefore, I expect you to be wearing clothes you can move in. They need to be tight enough that they are not in your way, but loose enough that they don't restrict your movement. Robes will _not _be sufficient. Something like this," I pulled my robe off, "will be more than adequate. Ladies, I expect your hair to be tied back." Many of the Purebloods were scowling at this, but some looked like they thought it made sense.

"Let's see, I've covered that, and that…" I said as I trailed my finger down the list of things I needed to say. "Alright," I looked up, "that covers almost everything. So, even though I said you wouldn't be getting much homework from me, I'm going to assign some tonight. Don't worry, all my classes are getting the same homework. Well, except first years, but they'll have a slightly different assignment. I want you to write down all the things you've already learned and everything you want to learn this year. I can't promise we'll cover everything, but I can definitely try."

Lily's hand was in the air. "Yes, Miss… Evans, right?"

"Yes, Professor. How long does this need to be?"

"Ah, my essay policy. It needs to be as long as you need it to be." I saw some confused looks. "Let me explain. If you need a paragraph to accomplish the task, then that's how much you write. If you need twelve rolls of parchment, then take twelve rolls of parchment. It's completely up to you, I mark on quality instead of quantity. And yes, this is going to be for marks. Now, we have half an hour left in class, so if you have any questions, now would be the time to ask them." I noticed Sirius had his hand up. "Yes, Mr. Black?"

"A couple of questions. First, how do you know my name? And second, how old are you?"

"Sirius, that's disrespectful!" hissed Remus.

"Don't worry, Mr. Lupin, I don't mind. As for the first, I was warned about certain… _troublemaking _students," most of the class laughed as I gave them a pointed look. "And I'm twenty-one." Lily's hand shot up. "Miss Evans?"

"How do we know that you know your stuff? I mean, I've read the book and it's really good, but you're so young!"

"Ah, well, my school years were not as uneventful as yours have been. From mountain trolls to Voldemort himself, I've seen a lot and nearly died more times than I care to count."

Peter raised his hand. "How are you able to say his name? Only powerful people can say his name - like Professor Dumbledore."

"When you've met him as many times as I have, you realise he's really not as powerful or scary as he wants us to believe. Also, Voldemort," flinches, "isn't his real name. But," I said with a raised hand to forestall the questions, "that's a lesson for another time.

"Mr. Greengrass?"

"How many times have you faced Death Eaters and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? And how did you survive?"

"Well, let's see… Death Eaters would be about… eleven or twelve times." There were gasps of astonishment. "As for Voldemort," flinches, "it would be around eight times." There was shocked silence. "As for how I survived, well that was a combination of luck, good friends watching my back, and I suppose my own skills came into play a little."

"Will you tell us those stories some day? And can you show us your dueling skills?" asked Alice (I found out her last name was Stone) excitedly.

"Maybe one day for the stories and I'm planning a demonstration for our next class," I said with a small, sad smile. "Yes, Mr. Lupin?"

"Who was with you at breakfast this morning?"

"Oh, that's my godson Teddy. His parents are dead, so I'm looking after him now."

"Why was his hair blue?" asked Frank Longbottom.

"He's a Metamorphagus," I answered easily. "Now, we've only got about three minutes left, so if you left a little early," I winked, "I won't mention it to anyone."

Most of the class left, chattering excitedly about their 'lesson'. The only people who stayed behind were the Marauders. "Hey, Professor," started James, "you told me last night that you lived in France, but Voldemort hasn't tried to do anything on the continent yet, so how could you have fought him and the Death Eaters?"

Dammit! I needed to keep better track of my lies! Part if the problem was that I didn't want to lie more than necessary, as lying all the time could be easily found out, but some facts would still need to be altered a little. Now, how to reply...

"My parents lived on the continent. I came here for holidays to visit my best friend's family during the summers and we had this nasty habit of running into Death Eaters while we were here. Most of my friends were killed by the time I turned 17 and I wanted to exact some vengeance on the Death Eaters. So, I moved here permanently. My parents were here visiting, and were killed by chance," I explained.

"Oh, said James as the bell rang. "We better get going. Thanks Professor!"

"Mr. Potter," I stopped him (he was behind his friends), "I've never really had family that didn't resent me before. If you want, in private you're welcome to call me Alexis."

James grinned. "Only when you call me James, Professor."

"Alright, James," I said with a grin. "I'll see you around. You have another class to get to."

"See ya, Alexis!" he called behind him.

I slumped behind my desk. This teaching organized classes thing was harder than it looked.

**(A/N: So, here's this week's update a day late. I have no excuse, other than I forgot. Sorry. Thanks to all those who have reviewed/favorited/followed my story and new readers are invited to do so as well. See you next week!)**


	5. Chapter 4

Lunch. It was finally lunch. I dismissed my class (third year Ravenclaws and Gryffindors) and followed them down to the Great Hall. Much of my classes had emulated my first period class in terms of questions that were asked and information that was given.

"How was your morning?" asked Clair.

"Exhausting, but it went well," I replied as Miza handed me Teddy and popped away again.

"Your sixth years were good for you?" she asked in friendly concern. "I can give them a pop quiz when I see them tomorrow if they weren't."

"Nah, they were fine," I said. "I might have scared them a little, though."

"What did you tell them?" she asked curiously.

"The most terrifying thing of all," I said, dead serious. "The truth."

After lunch, I returned to my classroom and prepared for my afternoon classes. It was then that I realised that I had forgotten something important in all of my classes. I'd forgotten to key them to their dummies. "Oh well," I sighed to myself. "It will keep until next class."

At the end of the day, I was preparing to leave my classroom and go get Teddy from Miza when I noticed a student standing by my door. "Yes, Mr. Black?" I asked politely. Regulus had been in my afternoon fifth year Slytherin/Hufflepuff class.

"Could I speak with you in private, Professor?" he asked nervously. I wondered what this was about.

"Of course, we could speak in my office if you would like?"

He nodded, "Thank you, Professor."

I led him to my office. He seemed nervous and a little twitchy. We entered my office and I invited him to sit.

"Now," I said calmly, "what would you like to speak about?"

"Professor, were… were you serious about all that stuff you said… the stuff about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?"

"Yes, I was," I said calmly, concealing my slight suspicion. "Why?"

"Professor, if I tell you something, will… will you promise not to tell anyone?"

"Of course, I won't disclose anything you tell me without your permission." Now I was curious.

"Well, my parents have always agreed with V-V-Voldemort's ideas. They're not Death Eaters," he hurried to assure me, "but their sympathies lean in that direction."

"Call Voldemort Tom," I suggested. "That's his real name anyway."

"Right," he nodded. "Anyway, my brother Sirius has always disagreed with my parents. They tried to force him to take... Tom's Mark this summer, so Sirius left. I think he's staying with James Potter now." He looked at me, pleadingly. "They want me to take the Mark and if I don't, I think they might kill me and Sirius. I don't want to be like them, torturing people for entertainment, killing for no reason, I can't do that, but… I don't want to die and I don't want Sirius to die either."

"Alright," I said, mind racing. "Let me think on this and I'll let you know when I think of something. When do they want you to take the Mark?"

"Over Christmas break," he said with a hopeful look in his eyes.

"Okay, first step is you aren't going home for break. I noticed last night you were sitting with Severus Snape, does he feel the same way?"

"Yes, I think so, but he might take the Mark just to get the chance to complete his Potions Apprenticeship. His financial situation is such that this might be the only way for him to become a Potions Master."

"Well, let him know that he doesn't need to take that step, I'll pay for his Apprenticeship. If he has issue with that, tell him to come talk to me. As for you, I think we need to warn Sirius what's happening. That will let him be on guard when you don't take the Mark, and will give you an place to run to if I'm unable to help you."

"Alright, we can tell Sirius," said Regulus after a moment's thought, "and I'll talk to Sev. Thank you for doing this for me. I know Dumbledore would help, but I don't trust the man."

"I don't completely either," I said. "No one should have as much power as he does. The Muggles have a saying, "Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely," that I think applies to Dumbledore."

"Well, I'll see you later, Professor," said Regulus as he stood.

"I'll slip you a note when I've set up a meeting with your brother," I promised. "I see him and Mr. Snape on Wednesday, if I give a note to Mr. Snape to deliver to you will that suffice?"

"It should," he said.

"Okay, so let's tentatively plan this meeting for after classes on Wednesday," I said. "I'll see you in class, Mr. Black."

Well that was interesting, I thought as he closed the door behind him. I wonder why he came to me, I mean he just met me. Actually, it's probably because of all the stuff I said in class. Yes, that's probably it.

Tuesday's classes went much the same as Monday's had. Wednesday was what I would come to call "Nightmare Day". The reason for this? In the morning, I had my seventh years (the numbers were small enough that there was only one class of seventh years) for two periods, followed by my sixth year Gryffindor/Slytherin class for two periods. After lunch, I had my other sixth year class for two periods followed by one of my first year classes.

I assure you, the name Nightmare Day was well earned.

My seventh years' class went by quickly. I spent the first half of class keying kids to dummies and then most of the second half going over a general outline of what they'd be learning that year. During the last fifteen minutes, I took out my dummy (which I had keyed to be as difficult to beat as the Bellatrix Lestrange that Molly Weasley had killed during the Battle of Hogwarts) and headed to the mats.

"During our last class, I promised you a demonstration of my skills. I've keyed this dummy to me alone and it will do pretty much anything short of the Unforgivables, though I can set it do to those if I want." The class was silent. "My point is, _stay off the mats_."

I waved my wand to start the dummy and immediately leapt to the right to dodge a purple colored curse. I rolled underneath a pink spell and returned with two reductos, then cast a shield charm to block its Expelliarmus. I ran in a circle, confusing the dummy, and came up behind it, shooting it point blank in the back of the head with a stunner. Unfortunately, it managed to dodge (by ducking) and I had also had to duck, then used my leg to sweep the dummy's legs from underneath it, causing it to fall onto its back. I hit it with three consecutive overpowered stunners, hoping to cause it to drop its shield charm, which it did on the third spell. I quickly followed up with an overpowered Expelliarmus, then a stunner and finally an Incarcerous. Dummy defeated, I turned to face my class.

The class was staring at me in awe. "I know some of you wanted to know if I knew what I was talking about. You now know that I do. Homework for Friday," I said as the bell rang and students stood up to leave, "write a paragraph or so on my demonstration, techniques that worked, spells used, and give an explanation as to why you think they worked."

As I returned my dummy to the trunk, the class poured out, talking excitedly about my demonstration. I smiled ruefully, knowing that the Hogwarts rumor mill would have me completely obliterating the dummy without breaking a sweat by lunchtime.

As my sixth years came in I reminded myself that I needed to talk to Sirius during the class and then slip a note to Severus Snape.

By way of complete coincidence, Sirius was the last one to enter the room as the bell rang. I stopped him at my desk and said in a whisper, "I need to speak with you after classes today. Come to my office after last period."

His eyebrows raised, "Why? I haven't caused any trouble."

The 'yet' in his voice was heard loud and clear by me. "It has nothing to do with school. I'm not even the one who needs to speak with you, I'm just providing a safe location for this other person to meet with you."

"Who is it?"

"You'll see when you come. Now, go sit down, I need to start the lesson."

Sirius sat down with a thoughtful and confused frown adorning his face. I knew that I had just caused all of the Marauders to be distracted for the rest of the day, but I couldn't bring myself to care. I knew they were brilliant.

I quickly scribbled a note to pass to Mr. Snape and then stood to begin the lesson. The class went pretty much the same as the seventh years had before, and I purposefully dropped by Snape's desk on the way to the mats for my demonstration. I casually slipped the note onto his textbook without breaking a stride. When I reached the mats and turned to face the class, I met his eyes and he gave a subtle nod, indicating he'd pass it on.

After my second demonstration and I'd released the class for lunch, James came up to me.

"What can I do for you, James?" I asked as I put the dummy away.

"Why do you want to meet with Sirius, Alexis?"

I turned to face him. "I'll tell you what I told Mr. Black. He's not in trouble, and this really has pretty much nothing to do with school, and I'm not the one who needs to speak with him. I'm just providing a safe location for the other person to meet with him."

James thought for a moment. "It's about his brother and what happened this summer, isn't it?"

I looked James in the eye. "I can neither confirm nor deny anything. If Mr. Black chooses to tell you after the meeting, then he may, but I have given my word not to disclose anything that may have been told to me in confidence." I sighed and closed my eyes. "If it will make you feel better, I will tell you that I have wards on my office that sound an alarm when someone is lying, so I do know that what this person spoke is the truth."

"That does make me feel a bit better," said James with a small grin. "Thanks, Alexis, I'll see you later."

"Bye, James," I said with a smile.

My afternoon classes seemed to fly by and suddenly it was the end of the day. I headed to my office, where I saw Sirius waiting a little nervously. "Hello Mr. Black, how was your afternoon?"

"It was fine, Professor, but I had trouble concentrating in all of my afternoon classes," he flashed me a small smile. "Something about the hot new defense professor wanting to meet me after classes, going to a great deal of trouble to keep it quiet, and not telling me why we're meeting," he waggled his eyebrows. "Perhaps we're meeting for circumstances that the Hogwarts rulebook wouldn't exactly approve of?"

"Possibly," I said, leading the way into my office (as a way to hide my blush) and sitting behind my desk, then motioning for him to take a seat in front of it, "but probably not for what you're thinking of."

"Well, will you tell me, then? Otherwise I've got nothing left to do but assume that we're doing something against the rules."

"We need to wait for the other person to get here. Like I told you before, I'm just providing a secure, neutral location for him to meet with you. Did James tell you what we talked about after class?"

"Yes," said Sirius.

"Oh, good," I said. There was a slightly timid knock at the door and I called out a, "Come in!"

The door opened to reveal Regulus. Sirius was momentarily shocked, his eyes traveling quickly between me and Regulus. "Take a seat Mr. Black," I said, gesturing to the other chair in front of my desk.

"Why are you here, Regulus?" asked Sirius softly, almost afraid of the answer.

Regulus met Sirius' eyes for the first time since coming in. "They want me to take the Mark, and I don't want to, but if I don't they'll... they'll kill you, Sirius!"

Sirius sat there in shock as his younger brother stared at him, as though worried that Sirius might think he was lying.

"So, you need help? Is that it?" asked Sirius worriedly. "I love you, Reggie, but I don't know how much help I'll be - I'm not yet 17 and I don't have any money."

"Professor Potter said she'd help," said Regulus quickly, "I just need you to stay alive."

"They also said they'd kill you," I interjected mildly.

"Yeah, but I couldn't live with myself if I were the reason Siri died," said Regulus passionately.

"Reggie, they'll probably try and kill me no matter what you do," said Sirius softly. This was a side of him that I'd never seen in the future. "I'm a Black who's rejected the ways of our ancestors as well as the Mark. _He _doesn't take rejection well."

"I just don't know what else to do," said Regulus with concern written all over his face.

"I have a few ideas," I said, causing both of them to look at me in surprise. I guess they'd forgotten that I was there. "I've thought about this a lot since you came to see me the other day, Regulus. The first plan is that you aren't going home for any holidays at all this year, and as much as possible, you aren't going to be alone. There are children of Death Eaters attending and those who plan on becoming Death Eaters when they graduate. Most of them probably wouldn't hesitate to turn either of you in, so avoid them if possible and if either of you notice the other missing, let me know immediately." They both nodded and I sighed. "Summer is going to be tricky. I'd take you in, but if I did that I'd be charged with kidnapping and then we'd be back where we started. So, can either of you think of someone related to the Black family that Regulus can stay with during the summer? There are laws that we can use to turn custody of a minor, in this case Regulus, over to another family member."

They were both silent and then Sirius said, "The Weasleys, Longbottoms, and even the Potters are related by marriage to the Blacks."

"Alright, I'll contact the Potter's first because I think it would be best if the two of you were together, but if that doesn't work out, then I'll talk with the other families."

"Mrs. Potter will say yes," said Sirius confidently. "I mean, she took me in."

"Well, we have contingencies in any case," I said with a smile. "And if it doesn't work out, then we'll come up with something else."

"What else do we need to do?" asked Regulus.

"That's it for official business, but I have a question for you two. I've fought Moldyshorts my whole life, and there are some patterns I've noticed in his attacks and the response to those attacks. Dumbledore has a group called the Order of the Phoenix that he uses to fight the war and the Ministry has Aurors and Hit Wizards. The standard response time for Dumbledore is about ten minutes after the beginning of the attack and the Ministry is even worse at fifteen minutes. I can usually be there about two to three minutes after the attack starts. Granted, there's only one of me and usually about thirty Aurors and maybe twenty-five Order members that have to be gathered, but the response time should still be faster. I feel, and this is not a feeling that the government or Dumbledore agrees with, that the younger generation are better suited to fight this war. Our reflexes are faster, our minds aren't befuddled by age, and we aren't set in our ways so our ability to adapt is better." I looked them in the eye. "I know how to kill him and what needs to be done, but I'm smart enough to know that I can't do it alone. The people I fought with before are all dead," or haven't been born yet, but it amounts to the same thing, "so I've had to come up with some other way to gain allies. I came here to teach so I could get a feel for possible allies and enemies. Students learning proper defense is just an additional bonus. I want to know if you two are at all interested in fighting with me."

There was silence. The boys looked shocked and I gave a grim smile.

"Who else are you going to offer this to?" asked Regulus. Sirius just looked thoughtful.

"Probably James, Mr. Lupin, Mr. Pettigrew, and definitely Mr. Snape. I was also thinking of Miss Evans, Miss Stone, and Mr. Longbottom. Probably also Miss Karen Misem."

"I don't know who the last one is," Sirius admitted, still looking thoughtful.

"I didn't expect you to, she's a Ravenclaw in her fourth year," I said with a sad smile.

"You're going to ask a fourth year to fight this war?" asked Sirius in amazement. "She won't last thirty seconds against the Death Eaters!"

"Not as she currently is, no," I agreed, "but I don't plan on letting anyone get out there without proper training. None of my team would be leaving the castle without my being certain that they can go out there without getting themselves killed. Besides, Miss Misem is brighter than you'd think - _and _she has connections to the Daily Prophet."

"Meaning you'd get access to all the news that wouldn't be printed in the paper," said Regulus thoughtfully, showing that I was right to consider him for my group.

"I was thinking of printing our own paper," I said, "that would provide a source of news not controlled by the ministry or Death Eaters."

"This group would need a name," said Sirius neutrally, but with a spark in his eyes that showed he was excited.

"And a secure meeting place," added Regulus with a nod.

The brothers glanced at each other quickly. "We're in," they said together, sounding eerily like Fred and George had.

**(A/N: There you go, another update!**

**Now, I meant to answer the question of ships for Alexis in the last chapter, but forgot because of the late update. So I will answer it now: I already know who Alexis will end up with, **_**however**_**, I will not be sharing that information. I do think that I make it pretty obvious in Chapter 6, but I will neither confirm nor deny any guesses. Her final boyfriend will not be the first person she dates. She is going to date **_**at least **_**two other guys first and have her heart broken at least once before she starts dating the final guy. This is because she, for the first time ever, is known only as a Potter and a favorite teacher. She will not face the fangirl problems she had in her old time. We also have to consider that Alexis takes her responsibilities very seriously. She is a professor, which means that she won't allow herself to show an "inappropriate" relationship to her students. She will see herself as needing to show an example. Also, the only people she really knows at this point are the staff. I see the youngest, other than Alexis, being about sixty or so. Sorry, but forty-odd years is a bit of a gap and it isn't going to happen. Alexis also, because of that responsible nature, won't have a relationship with one of her students, even if they are closer in age and probably going to be some of her friends. So, once Alexis starts meeting other guys, **_**then**_** we'll start seeing some romance.**

**Thanks to all those who've favorited/followed/reviewed and please continue to do so!)**


	6. Chapter 5

After chatting with Regulus and Sirius (as they asked me to call them to avoid confusion and I responded by asking them to call me Alexis) about the group and people I wanted to include. They added a few names I hadn't considered and I trusted their judgement. After all, they'd been going to school with these kids, I was still new. Our list of names now included James, Remus, Peter, Lily, Alice, Frank, Karen, Severus, a girl named Carrie Martin who was a Hufflepuff in Regulus's year and was apparently brilliant with languages and Runes. Regulus said she could speak probably about a hundred languages - ninety percent of them considered 'dead'. As he spoke about her, his eyes brightened and he got a star-struck look. Sirius and I glanced at each other and stifled our giggles. It sounded like _someone_ had a crush.

Also on our list was another Ravenclaw in Sirius' year named Luke Night who was the best in their year with Runes and Arithmancy and Sirius said he'd spent the summer doing an internship with a Gringotts cursebreaker. I immediately added him to our list.

I told them I wanted to find one more Hufflepuff, and that they should be on the lookout (as would I), but no one below fourth year. After that, with our 'inner circle' at thirteen plus me, we'd have enough people to start with. I told them I wanted to find a place for us to meet, and then we'd start recruiting people.

After I dismissed them, I wondered if I could use the Room of Requirement as our headquarters, remembering how Neville had used it during the second war, but I decided that it would be better suited as a training room, as I wanted a place a bit more permanent than the Room.

Then I remembered that there were a lot of empty classrooms around the school. In particular, I remembered one that I'd found during my fourth year when Ron and I were fighting. There was a hallway that never got used on the third floor that only had three classrooms on it. There weren't any portraits in the hallway, and the hallway itself was hidden behind a door that everyone thought was just a solid wall masquerading as a door, but was actually just password protected. If that sentence even made any sense.

I had been moping about a week before the first task and had started muttering things under my breath at the empty air around me when the door opened. Surprised, I had closed the door and tried to find the password again. Turns out the password was 'stupid git'. Who knew? 

Anyway, the classrooms on the hallway were small, but if I took out the interior walls then we could use the area as one big room. I immediately headed there.

When I got through the door, I started carving wards onto the doorframe. I added privacy wards, notice-me-not wards, and wards that would restrict the access to the people I set. For now I set it at me, Teddy, Miza (who would now be in charge of all the cleaning and maintenance for the hallway), Sirius, and Regulus. I'd wait until the others agreed before adding them to the access list.

In the room, I took down all the interior walls and blocked up two of the doors, before placing more wards on the door to the room. Then I cleaned up a little and figured out what I'd need to make this place an effective headquarters. Maps were first on my list. Maps of Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade, since they had been attacked the most. Maps of the Ministry, if we could get them. Maybe a map of England, to track Death Eaters on? Azkaban as well, just in case? Would a map of Europe be overkill, or a good precaution? I'd have to think about those questions.

Next on my list was a place to portkey in. That would be useful when we were ready to start going on raids and countering Death Eater attacks. Also, when we started to get allies outside of Hogwarts (I hoped that would be soon), they could easily contact us. I especially wanted to get Amelia Bones who worked at the Ministry as Head Auror on our side. Charles Potter who was the head of DMLE would also be useful. We'd also need a better way to contact each other, like those headsets Muggle spies used. I'd have to ask someone else to tinker with them, though. Warding, I could do. Enchanting? Not so much.

Also on my list was a trunk of weapons and a trunk of explosives. You never knew when those would come in handy.

I'd also need a Potions lab, for Severus and Lily to tinker with potions to make them more useful for us and to brew healing potions to heal the inevitable injuries that would come our way.

I thought that was it, but I'd think of something else eventually, or adapt our space as needed.

I started by turning part of one of the classrooms into a Potions lab. I warded the area and put up a wall to separate them from us. Then I added some spells to make sure the area was ventilated and warded the wall and door to withstand explosions.

Then I walled off another corner of the room and placed wards on the new door that would identify the person who portkeyed in and alert me when they arrived.

I looked at my list of things that I still needed to do and realised that it would have to wait until the weekend. Maybe I could give Sirius detention and leave to go take care of the shopping the list had left me with. Yeah, that would work.

During our class on Friday, I slipped Sirius a note telling him to cause a distraction so I could give him detention as I needed to speak with him.

Sirius immediately set off about twenty dungbombs.

Aside from not wanting to know _why_ he was carrying twenty _dungbombs_ around, I was pleased.

"Detention with me tomorrow afternoon, Mr. Black," I said in a voice that conveyed I was not impressed, but I winked at him when the rest of the class was watching Sirius.

"But, Professor," whined Sirius.

"No buts, Mr. Black. If you're going to cause trouble in my class, then you're going to have to pay the price. I'll see you here tomorrow at two o'clock."

He sighed a little dramatically. "Yes, Professor."

At promptly 2:01 the next day, Sirius showed up at my classroom. "So what's this about, Professor?"

"I need to leave the castle and you're going to be my cover while I do," I explained. He blinked. Apparently he wasn't expecting that. "I found a place to serve as our HQ, but it needs a few finishing touches. I need to go make maps of Diagon Alley, London, Hogsmeade, buy a few illegal items, and speak with the Potters about Regulus. When I get back, you can go and complain to James and the others about what a troll I am when it comes to detention." I explained, ending with a grin.

"Well," said Sirius with a dramatic sigh, "if I must spend my afternoon doing nothing, then I suppose I can manage. Anything for the cause, after all."

"Oh, you didn't think I wouldn't leave you with nothing to do, did you?" I asked with a smile that made Sirius wince. "I'm going to take you to our new HQ and leave you with the glorious assignment of setting up our infirmary. How are your Potions skills?"

"Pretty good," said Sirius cautiously.

"Well, you can start brewing some Blood Replenishing and bruise salve. Maybe some Skelegrow if you have time," I said. "I've already set up the Potions lab and... _borrowed_ some ingredients from Slughorn and the greenhouses, so you should have enough to brew those. I'll pick up some more ingredients today."

"Alright," said Sirius. I led him to the door and he said cautiously, "Alexis, are you _sure_ this is the right place? I mean, this door doesn't exactly open."

I grinned at him mischievously and said, "Stupid git," and the door swung open. "Come on," I said with a smile. After closing the previous door I said, "Quinsy," and the next door to the actual HQ opened up.

"Why quinsy?" asked Sirius.

I shrugged. "It was the most random thing I could come up with."

"Fair enough," said Sirius with a laugh, which sounded nothing like the bark-like sound I had become accustomed to during my stay at Grimmauld Place. I supposed that spending so much time as Padfoot had something to do with the change.

"So this is our HQ," I said with a grand flourish. "Potions lab is through that door, and Portkey point is in there. I'm thinking the infirmary will be there," I pointed to the wall next to the Portkey area, "because anyone injured will have that much less to travel. I've set the wards on the two doors we just came through to only open for you, me, and Regulus for now, but we can always add more people later. I've also set wards on the Portkey area that will alert me when they arrive, who they are, and if they're injured. While I'm out today, I'm going to pick up a cabinet to put all of the potions you're going to make today in. We'll put that in the infirmary, so leave a space for it. Um, what else? On that wall," I pointed at the wall by the door we'd just come through, "I'm going to put maps of Hogwarts, Diagon, Hogsmeade, London, England, Europe, and the Ministry and Azkaban if we can get them so we can track Death Eaters. First thing for that plan is to devise a method to track them, but I figure once we get everyone involved, our collective brain power will come up with something."

"You've thought a lot about this," said Sirius softly.

I looked at him. "I've been fighting this war practically since I was eleven years old. That's about half of my life. I don't know how to do anything else."

After I'd said that, I disillusioned myself and snuck out through the One-Eyed Witch's passage that Sirius had kindly told me of. I wandered through town, making note of every detail and then Apparated to Diagon. Here, I made notes on everything in both Diagon and Knockturn, then I glamored myself, changed my voice to a higher pitched one and removed the disillusionment charm. I stopped first at Borgin and Burkes where I picked up several books I thought were too Dark to be left where an enemy could potentially get at them, the Vanishing Cabinet, several vials of lethal poisons, a bag made of basilisk skin that would come in handy for another task I had in mind, and a variety of daggers and throwing knives that looked like they'd been on display for a couple of centuries. That wouldn't surprise me - Purebloods were leaning away from those sorts of things as it was "too uncultured".

Next I went to a bookshop and probably spent more than the man who ran it had made in the entire previous year. I bought books on becoming an Animagus, Dark books for the same reason as before, books on sword fighting, and dagger-throwing, and every Potions book the man had (about fifty of them). After that, I shrunk down my purchases, put them in my pocket and moved on to a store that sold rare (and in most cases illegal) potions ingredients. I cleaned them out of anything that had any sort of medicinal property and left, adding them to my pocket of shrunken down stuff.

Then I returned, at last, to Diagon Alley. I started at Flourish and Blotts, where I bought every book on Potions, Healing, and useful Defense that they had. I went next to the Apothecary and bought a bit of everything - though I got more of some than others. My next stop was to pick up several cauldrons and storage containers for the Potions and salves, then I went to the furniture shop and picked up three trunks (one for weapons, one for explosives, and one for books) and one cabinet for the potions.

I then left the magical world and went to a Military storehouse. A few spells later and I was leaving with half of their current stock in every type of explosive I could get my hands on and some communications units. Then, I went to the Muggle book store and picked up some books on physical fitness and maps of London, Britain, and Europe that I could use when I made my own. After that, I travelled to a clothing store, where I looked around for items of clothing that could be used as a uniform for my group (which still needed a name). After searching for a while, I had several possibilities picked out and purchased in my size. I would come back and get clothes for the others when we decided what our uniform would be.

By this time it was about three-thirty and I was due to meet with the Potters in half an hour. So, I went and wandered around London for twenty minutes, working on my map.

Then, I removed my disguise and Apparated to Godric's Hollow to meet with the Potters.

I took a deep breath and entered the conference room that Mrs. Potter had informed me that she'd booked for our afternoon.

"Hello, I'm Alexis Potter," I said with a gracious smile.

"Hello," said Mrs. Potter with a charming smile, "I'm Dorea Potter and this is my husband Charles Potter. If my son's letters are to be believed, you're his Defense professor this year?"

"Yes, I took the position for the year, all though I do hope to still be teaching next year."

"The track record isn't exactly good, is it?" said Mr. Potter with a smile. "If you don't mind my asking, are you a relative? I'd always thought that we were the only Potters."

"I think that we are related," I said with a nod. "I'm not sure exactly where the connection is, but my father was a squib coming from a long line of squibs. I suppose marrying my mother, who was Muggleborn, must have been enough to reawaken the magic, so to speak."

"Ah, yes, that would do it," said Charles with a nod. "Now, if we could get down to business?"

"Of course," I nodded. "I find myself in a position where I'm in need of your help. After my first day of classes, a student came to me that was worried for his life and the life of his brother. He told me that his brother had refused to take the Dark Mark and his family had informed him that if he didn't take it, they would kill both him and his brother." I paused. "I'm not sure why he came to me, but he did say he didn't trust Dumbledore, who would probably turn him into a spy of sorts."

"Yes, that does sound like him," agreed Charles, but what can we do to help with this?"

"Well, I spoke with both students on Wednesday, and we agreed that the best plan would be to remove the younger brother from the custody of his parents. I'd do it, but I don't have any sort of blood connection - or not one that's recent enough, anyway. So I asked them if they could think of anyone who would be closely enough related to take him in, and your names were suggested."

"It's Regulus, isn't it," said Dorea softly. "He came to you." It wasn't a question, but I nodded anyway.

"Yes."

The couple looked at each other for a long moment, and then Charles nodded and said, "We'll do what we can. Do you know when he's scheduled for his… initiation?"

"Christmas," was my reply.

"Well, we'll try and get custody by then," said Dorea. "Thanks, for bringing this to our attention and for helping him."

"It wasn't a problem. I've got a bit of a hero complex, so this really isn't a problem," I said with a smile as they chuckled a bit.

"How much more time do you have?" asked Charles. "I'd like to get to know you better, James says you're one of his favorite teachers and more than that, you're family."

"Thanks for that," I said softly. "And I've probably got another half hour. I snuck out, and Sirius has already been in detention for just over two hours."

"Why is Sirius in detention?" asked Dorea with raised eyebrows.

"He set off about twenty dungbombs in my classroom," I answered promptly. "Of course, I told him to, so that I could sneak out today, but still."

"I don't even want to know why that boy had twenty dungbombs on him," said Charles shaking his head.

"I made it a special point not to ask," I said with a smile.

"Why so long?" asked Dorea.

"I had some other errands to run while I was out today, so I left a bit earlier than I really needed to. However," I said standing with a smile, "I should go back now and see what mayhem he's planning without supervision. It was really nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Potter."

"Call us Charles and Dorea, child," said Dorea with a smile. "As Charles said, you're family."

"Thank you," I said again with a smile, fighting to keep back tears. "Let me know what happens with Regulus, okay?"

"Of course, you'd best get going," said Charles. "And you're coming to our house for Christmas."

"I am?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yep," said Charles cheerfully. "We'll see you then!"

"Okay!" I said, happy to be included as Dorea shook her head in fond exasperation. "I'd best go now, though."

After I activated my Portkey, which I was using to test the sort of 'gap' I'd made in the Portkey wards (only Portkeys that were made by me and the Headmaster would work in Hogwarts). After successfully arriving, I headed out to see what Sirius was doing.

Surprisingly, he'd been good and had completed three cauldrons of Blood Replenishing, two of the bruise salve, and one of Skelegrow. "So," said Sirius, leaping to his feet in excitement from where he'd been sitting on one of the five infirmary beds, "how did it go?"

"I bought everything that we need that I can think of, finished the Diagon, Knockturn, and Hogsmeade maps, and the Potters agreed to get custody of Regulus and invited me for Christmas."

"YES!" said Sirius loudly.

"Now help me unload my pockets."

Working together, we managed to put everything away (I made certain that Sirius didn't know that I had high-powered explosives in one of the bags). The room was starting to look more like I'd pictured the Order of the Phoenix Headquarters to be, before I'd realised that Dumbledore wasn't actually all that great.

Then, at five o'clock, I let Sirius go back and reminded him to complain loudly about his three hour 'detention'.

**(A/N: Here's another chapter for you! Thanks to those who've reviewed/favorited/followed, and to those who will after this chapter.**

**Just to warn you guys, this is my last week of exam break, and Wednesdays are pretty busy during school, but I promise that if I don't update on Wednesday, there will be a chapter on Thursday. See you next week!)**


	7. Chapter 6

(A/N: Just a short chapter today, I'm afraid. I tried something different with this chapter, and it appears a couple other times during the story, but basically anything written in bold from this point on is from Sirius' point of view. There's a couple reasons for that, but the big one is that it gives us another perspective on the story and allows me to tell parts of the story we might otherwise never fine out. Thanks to those who have reviewed/favorited/followed and please continue to do so!)

**On the way back to Gryffindor Tower, I reflected that there was something strange about Alexis. Something that she wasn't telling us. Anything she mentioned about the past was carefully rehearsed, like a story she had learned. It all carefully matched up.**

**Oh, I didn't think she was a Death Eater, or anything like that. After all, the wards on her office would affect her as much as they affected us. No, I just felt that there was something off about her and I didn't know what.**

**For one thing, how did she get all this information? You know, about how to kill Moldyshorts, as she called him. **

**But for all of this, I couldn't help but feel attracted to her.**

**It wasn't just the fact that she was gorgeous, though she was, it was more her personality. She was nothing like any of the other teachers at Hogwarts. She was young and couldn't stay stern for very long. She didn't assign homework and she believed in a practical approach instead of a theoretical approach, though we did learn some theory.**

**I honestly couldn't help but **_**like**_** her, and I knew that if I allowed myself, I could come to love her.**

**When I got back, the Marauders and our other friends were waiting for me. Lily and James had started dating over the summer (well, not **_**dating**_**, exactly, but Lily had promised the first Hogsmeade day to him, so they were pretty much dating) and so the most of the sixth year Gryffindors had started to hang out. Well the cool ones, anyway.**

**James and Lily were cuddling on the couch in front of the fire, Remus was sitting in an armchair reading our defence book, Alice and Frank were snuggling on the rug and Peter was reading over Remus' shoulder.**

**It was Peter who noticed my arrival first. "There you are, Sirius, what took you so long to get back?"**

"**I've only just got out of detention," I said as I flopped into an empty armchair across from Remus. "It was torture." Not a lie, I hate brewing Potions.**

"**You were there for three hours?" asked Lily curiously. "What were you doing?"**

"**Oh, she made me brew some cleaning potions for Filch to use in his detentions," I said. Lie, although I had brewed potions. Merlin, I hate lying to my best mates.**

"**You hate brewing potions, though," said Remus.**

"**Yeah, that's why she had me doing it. She said, and I quote, "Since your record says you spend so much time scrubbing floors, you might as well brew the cleaner to use." It was a nightmare."**

"**What possessed you to set off…" Frank trailed off. "How many was it?"**

"**Twenty-five," I said casually.**

"**Why did you set off twenty-five dungbombs?" asked James.**

**Because Alexis asked me to, I thought but couldn't currently say. What I said **_**instead**_** was, "It seemed like a good idea at the time."**

"**Why were you carrying around twenty-five dungbombs, anyway?" asked Alice curiously.**

"**Well, we **_**had **_**a prank planned for lunchtime," said James with a sour look in my direction, "but **_**someone**_** set off all the dungbombs in Defense instead. You better not be trying to cause trouble for my cousin, mate."**

"**I'm not," I said defensively. "She's your family, I wouldn't do that to her." I sighed. Surely some of the truth wouldn't hurt? I looked around. The common room was empty, since it was such a nice day out, but I cast some silencing charms anyway. I didn't want anyone knowing what had happened today. "Look, if you must know, I did it because she asked me to."**

**They looked at me with raised eyebrows and then glanced at each other as if to say, yep he's finally cracked.**

"**It's true!" Looks like I was going to have to tell them the whole story. Well, most of it anyway. "I had that meeting with her on Wednesday, right?" There were nods. "Well, this summer, my parents wanted me to take the Dark Mark, so I ran away and am now happily living at James' place. That didn't go over too well with Moldyshorts or my parents, and my brother is now being forced to take the Mark on pain of both his death and my death." Lily and Alice gave gasps of horror, and the guys all looked sympathetic. "Well, I didn't know any of this. Apparently, Regulus got the same speech we did about her past experiences and decided to tell her about it. She suggested to Regulus that I be informed, and that was what that meeting was about on Wednesday."**

"**But what does that have to do with today?" asked Remus.**

"**I'm getting there," I said. "So, yesterday in Defense, she slipped me a note saying that I needed to cause some trouble so she could give me a detention."**

"**So you set off the dungbombs," nodded James. "But why did Alexis need you in detention?"**

"**Part of what we talked about on Wednesday was how to keep Regulus from having to take the Mark. Alexis said that the best way would be to remove Regulus from their custody entirely. She said she'd do it, but she doesn't have the necessary blood connection. So she asked us if there was anyone we could think of who did have the blood connection."**

"**Mum was a Black," said James quickly.**

"**Yeah, and we mentioned her to A-Professor Potter. Regulus doesn't trust Dumbledore, I don't either really, so she used me as a cover to sneak out and meet with Charles and Dorea today."**

"**And?" asked Alice quickly. "What did they say?"**

"**They said they'd do what they can and invited the Professor to spend winter holidays with them," I said with a laugh.**

**James also chuckled. "Sounds like them," he agreed. "Did it really take her three hours to do all of that? And why did she have you brewing potions anyway?"**

"**Well, she couldn't just leave me with nothing to do, could she? She didn't actually have me brewing cleaner, although I did brew stuff. The rest of the school needs to think that I was brewing cleaner, so don't tell anyone I was actually brewing Blood Replenishing, bruise salve, and Skelegrow. She also had some other errands to run, and took the opportunity to take care of them while she was out today."**

**Lily was looking at me funny. "You know what her errands were," she said flatly.**

**I shifted uncomfortably.**

**The others turned their eyes on me. "What aren't you telling us, Sirius?" asked Remus.**

**I said nothing.**

"**Come on, Sirius, you know you can trust us," said Frank.**

"**I know," I said softly.**

"**So why aren't you telling us what's going on?" demanded James.**

"**It's not time for you to know yet," I said, still speaking softly. "We will tell you, I promise, but we have to finish setting things up."**

"**And when will that be?" asked Alice gently.**

"**A couple weeks at most," I estimated. "Not much more than that."**

**Peter, in a flash of insight, asked the question that I'd been hoping to avoid. "How dangerous is this… thing you're planning?"**

**I sighed. "There's a good chance we could end up dead," I admitted.**

"**Then why are you doing this?" asked Alice.**

"**Because I don't want anyone else to be in the position that my brother is in," I replied honestly.**

"**Why is Alexis doing this?" asked James worriedly.**

"**Because it's all she knows how to do."**


	8. Chapter 7

After Sirius left, I decided that it was time to deal with something I'd been putting off all summer.

It was time to kill the basilisk.

I Disillusioned myself and left the castle, heading down to Hagrid's to _borrow_ a rooster. Having done so, I returned to the castle and headed to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Opening the entrance using Parseltongue, I asked for stairs, which I then descended.

Arriving at the bottom, I placed the Imperius Curse on the rooster and retraced the path I'd trodden when I was twelve. Calling the basilisk, I waited until I could hear the snake, and then commanded the rooster to crow. I heard a lot of banging and thumping as the snake went through its death throes. I waited until I couldn't hear anything, and then cautiously opened my eyes. The basilisk was dead and, even better; its eyes were closed so there was no danger of accidental death. Unless, of course, one were stupid enough to pry the eyelids open, but even _I_ wasn't that idiotic.

After gathering the venom and fangs and placing them in the bag I'd gotten from Borgin and Burkes earlier, I harvested all of the potions ingredients. Basilisk blood was a rare ingredient with no medicinal properties whatsoever, but we could always sell it if we needed funds. I kept the skin to use for our uniforms.

My uniform idea was to have two suits of clothes. One would be of black clothing only and would be for stealth missions. The other would be a suit of basilisk hide that could be worn over top of other clothing. This would be for times when protection was more important than speed or stealth as the basilisk hide would slow us down. I also wanted to make each member of my team a vest that could be worn under their shirts at all times, just to be safe.

After I finished dissecting the basilisk corpse (not a pleasant task, I assure you), I was about to head up to take a shower, I realised that I had never taken the time to fully explore the Chamber.

I put off my shower in favor of this, although I only had another hour until dinner. Meh, I could always say I was eating with Teddy in our quarters. That would work.

It would be better to just show up though.

Exploring the Chamber, I found a room that I soon discovered to be Salazar Slytherin's. I found journals, probably around fifty of them, that appeared to document several experiments he'd done that could prove immensely beneficial. There were thousands of dried ingredients. I immediately called Miza and we began moving it all to HQ. Not all of the ingredients would be useful, and I didn't recognize all of them (not that _that _meant much), but it would do no harm to keep them, just in case.

I think I just found the first assignment for Severus and Lily.

After we finished moving all of the stuff, I had Miza pop me back to my quarters and I jumped in the shower. After I was clean, I headed down to dinner, arriving just as it was about to start.

"How was your detention today?" asked Clair while she was dishing up her food.

"It went well," I said with a smile for the older woman. "I had him brew cleaning potions for Filch and the elves. I told him that since he spent so much time scrubbing floors, he might as well brew the cleaner to do it with." Well, he had brewed potions, but not for Filch. Miza had picked those up for me.

Clair snorted into her mashed potatoes. "I bet he enjoyed that."

"Well, he didn't cause any problems," I shrugged. "I think that James told his friends not to cause trouble for me because, aside from that one incident, I haven't had any trouble from the four of them at all."

"Lucky," said Clair in envy. "Not a class goes by that _something _doesn't happen."

"Well, at least it makes life interesting."

"It certainly does."

After dinner, I headed to my office to meet with Regulus, who was already waiting for me by the door.

"How did the meeting go?" he asked as soon as I'd closed the door.

"It went well," I said as I sat behind my desk. "Charles and Dorea said they'd start the process before inviting me to spend the winter holidays with them."

"Will you go?"

"Only if you are going to be safe while I do so," I promised.

"Thank you," he said softly. I got the feeling that he wasn't used to people caring about him as a person. I thought that was the most tragic thing I could ever imagine. And I knew how it felt, after living with the Dursleys. I certainly hoped I never encountered them in this timeline. I didn't know if I'd be able to restrain myself from killing them. Or at least severely injuring them.

"I have something to show you," I said. "It's related to our other project."

"What is it?"

"Follow me."

I discreetly led him to the first entrance of our HQ. "Stupid git," I said softly to the door, which swung open. After we'd stepped through and Regulus had shut the door, I stated the next password and we walked through into the main room. "This is going to be our HQ," I said. "We have an area to receive Portkeys over there, and a Potions lab through there, and a mini-infirmary there. I plan to put maps of Hogsmeade, Diagon, Knockturn, London, England, Europe, and the Ministry and Azkaban if we can get them. I want to know where all of the Death Eaters are at all times, and we're going to use those maps to do it."

"This is pretty neat, Alexis," said Regulus with a smile.

"Thanks," I said, smiling back. "I want to have everything ready in no more than three weeks. Sooner is better."

"What still needs to be done? Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Well, I need to sort out our uniforms, and we need to figure out a name, and… finish the maps. That's about it, I think."

"I'm not bad at drawing," said Regulus. "If you give me notes on the places, I can draw them. Then all you have to do is put the spells that will track the Death Eaters on them."

"I don't actually know how to do that yet," I admitted. "I'm thinking that we'll need to wait until we've gotten agreements from those we want to recruit and then use the collective brainpower to figure out how to track the Death Eaters." What I actually wanted was for the Marauders to tell me how they created the map, but I suspected that Remus was the one to ask about that and I couldn't do that since I had no reason to know about the map to begin with.

"That'll work," said Regulus. "While I do the drawing, you can sort out the uniforms. I think it will be better if we wait until we've got our team before we come up with a name. If _they _come up with a name, it will give them a sense of belonging. It'll be their group, not one that you started and they joined. But if you want to come up with the name, that's fine."

"No, I think that's a better idea. Here are all of my notes on London, Diagon, Knockturn, and Hogsmeade. If you need more, I can get them for you. I only have Muggle maps for England and Europe, but it's better than nothing, right?"

"Exactly," agreed Regulus with a smile.

After that, we both left HQ. Regulus returned to the dungeons to start drawing, and I headed up to my office. I glanced at my list to see if there was anything else I needed to accomplish before HQ was fully operational.

Potions lab (check)

Portkey point (check)

Maps (Regulus)

Weapons (check)

Explosives (check)

Muggle communications unit for someone else to tinker with (check for the purchasing part, but not for the modifications)

Infirmary (check)

Well, it looked like I had a lot less to do than I'd thought, especially since Regulus had taken the maps off of my plate. It seemed like all I had left was the uniforms, and those would keep until tomorrow. I decided that I had been neglecting my godson lately, and I returned to my quarters to play with him.

The next day, after breakfast, I headed to HQ. I put the vials of Basilisk blood in the lab, the venom and fangs in the weapons trunk, and left the hide on the ground. I then pulled out the black clothes I'd purchased.

I conjured a full length mirror, before changing into my first idea for an outfit. This was a pair of black spandex pants and a black long sleeved shirt. I tested out my flexibility and my speed and found that both were excellent, I put the clothes on the 'possible' pile.

Trying on the next outfit, a pair of black yoga pants and a black long sleeved shirt of a different design and material, I performed the same tests. I found that, while the flexibility and speed allowances were good, they were not as good as the first, so I put them back in the bag.

Three more outfits revealed the same things to me, so I decided that the first outfit would be the stealth uniform.

I had Miza help me make a bodysuit that was loose, but would be snug with the right type of clothing underneath out of the hide. I tried on the second outfit from before underneath the hide suit, and found that it was exactly what I was wanting with this. I also had Miza cut me a jacket that could be worn anytime. If anyone asked, it was dragonhide. They were almost identical, anyway.

This left me with nothing left on my list, except the maps which was Regulus' task, so I decided to go relax and enjoy myself for the rest of the day.

**The night after Alexis had shown me HQ was torture. Well, not torture, exactly, but extremely painful. The Marauders (James) had assumed that I simply didn't want the girls and Frank to know the full extent of what was going on. They had been waiting in the dorm for me to divulge the truth.**

"**Marauders don't lie to each other and they don't keep secrets from each other," James reminded me.**

**Damn.**

**That was a part of the Marauder code, which we had created in first year after our first prank. This particular line had been added after we'd found out Remus was a werewolf (ironically, I'd been the one to insist upon its addition). We'd all promised to abide by the code and here I was, breaking that promise for Alexis - a girl that I had a little crush on, but barely knew.**

"**I… Guys, I want to tell you, I really do, but it I can't," I looked down at my lap.**

"**And why not?" demanded James.**

"**I… I just can't."**

**Needless to say, that wasn't an acceptable answer for James, and now Peter, so they had spent the entire night hounding me for information. Remus didn't help me either. I knew he was hurt that I was keeping secrets, and his natural curiosity was working against me.**

"**Guys, I promise that as soon as Alexis tells me I can tell you, I will."**

"**Alexis?" asked James with raised eyebrows. "Just what have you and my cousin been up to?"**

"**Nothing like what you're thinking," I said immediately. "But it is slightly illegal and probably against some school rules."**

"**Well, alright," said James. "We'll let you get away with this secret-keeping thing for now, but as soon as you're able to tell us, we want to know."**

"**I promise."**

**I was in luck. Monday evening, as she was leaving dinner, Alexis dropped a note next to Lily's overflowing schoolbag. "Miss Evans, you appear to have dropped one of your essays," she said. Damn, she was a good actress.**

"**Oh, thank you Professor, I hadn't even noticed," she said, picking it up. She looked at it and then looked at me.**

"**Hey, Lily?" I said then. "Can I borrow your Transfiguration assignment?"**

"**Oh, sure. Just don't completely copy it, alright? And don't lose it either."**

"**Marauder's honor," I said with a smile and a wink. She passed the paper across the table to me and I slipped it into my pocket to read later.**

**Later came when we reached the common room. The outside said simply, **_**Pass on to Sirius.**_

_**S**_

_**R is taking care of the maps. Says they'll be ready in a week or two. Tell the Gryffindors about our project and ask them to think about it. R is asking his companion. Will be having first full meeting on Friday night, so make sure you cause some trouble in class so you get detention. I'll make sure the Ravens and Puffs are there, R will take care of his companion. Going to ask Edgar Bones (R's year Puff) to join. Sister is Head Auror, which could be useful.**_

_**A**_

**Well, it looked like the Marauders would be getting their explanation sooner than we'd thought.**

"**Guys," I called, getting the attention of those who hadn't been watching me read the note (everyone but Lily). "I can give you those explanations now. Let's go up to our dorm to talk."**

"**But that's against the rules!" gasped Lily.**

"**Please, Lily?" I asked. "I don't want us to get caught with this. It's too important."**

"**Well, alright," she agreed hesitantly.**

**After we'd trooped upstairs and situated ourselves on the beds in the dorm, I started speaking. "After we'd finished discussing Regulus' situation on Wednesday, Alexis asked the two of us a question. She asked if we wanted to help her with a project - the **_**real**_** reason she'd come to Hogwarts. When she finished her explanation of the project, we both agreed to help her. Part of what I did on Saturday for detention was set up some things for the project and she went a purchased some illegal things, some things too Dark to leave to be purchased by Death Eaters, some things that were necessary, and take notes on Hogsmeade, Diagon, and Knockturn. Some of the things she bought, she wouldn't even tell me about when she got back. Then she met with Charles and Dorea, and then she came back and we started setting some things up in the room where the project will primarily take place."**

**I paused and Alice asked, "What is the project?"**

"**Alexis says she knows Moldyshort's weakness, how to kill him. She asked if we would like to help."**

"**Y-Y-You know how to kill him?" asked James, sitting straight up. "We have to tell Dad right away!"**

"**I don't know how to kill him," I said quickly. "Alexis hasn't passed that information along yet. **_**She **_**is currently the only one who knows."**

"**So, do you three have a plan?" asked Remus.**

"**A vague sort of idea of what Alexis' plan is, but yeah, she's got a plan," I thought for a moment. "She says that this is literally **_**our **_**war, that it's **_**our **_**future we're fighting for. She says it's time to stop being reactive to his attacks and start taking the fight to him. Regulus and I both agree that she's right. She plans to take some of the best and brightest kids at this school and teach them how to fight, to become the force that will be the most effective. She's fighting to win, and there's no stopping her. There never was any stopping her."**

**There was silence.**

"**So, why are you telling us this?" asked Peter.**

"**She wants me to ask if you want to join the team."**

**Again, there was silence. I waited while they thought it over and then Lily (**_**Lily**_**) said, "I'm saying yes. I'm a Muggleborn. They'll never leave me alone while they still have the ability. I have the opportunity and ability to fight, so I'm going to fight them with everything I have for the people who don't have that."**

"**Alexis is family," said James. "I'm in."**

"**I wanted to become an Auror anyway," said Frank with a laugh. "This will just give me some prior experience."**

"**If Frank's in, I'm in," said Alice. "Though I would be anyway."**

"**I'll do it," said Peter.**

"**If the rest of you are going to, then I will as well," sighed Remus. He had always been the sensible one, and this wasn't exactly something sensible that we were planning.**

"**Alright, our first meeting is going to be on Friday, unless plans change and Regulus doesn't finish his part of the plan in time. So, we need to get detention during her class on Friday."**

"**I've never had detention before," said Lily sadly.**

"**It won't be a real detention," James assured her.**

"**We just need an excuse to meet," I said. "I mean, can you see Dumbledore letting us do this?"**

**No one responded, but we all knew the answer was no.**

(A/N: Another chapter for you! Thanks to those who have reviewed/favorited/followed! Please continue to do so!)


	9. Chapter 8

Sirius left a note at HQ to inform me that the Gryffindors were in and Regulus had informed me the same way that Severus was in and the maps would be done for Friday. All that was left was for me to give detention to Edgar Bones, Karen Misem, Luke Night, and Carrie Martin so they would be there for the information meeting on Friday.

I hoped that they would agree to help me. I _could _do this without them, but it would be so much more difficult.

Friday came and I'd accomplished everything I'd needed to do (I staged _accidents_ during my classes either that day or the day before when I saw them in class), Regulus had delivered the finished maps during lunch and I'd spent my free periods in HQ putting them up. It was time for the first meeting.

Predictably the Ravens were early, arriving shortly before Regulus and Severus. Exactly on time were my two Puffs, and about five minutes late were my Gryffindors.

When Sirius entered last, he closed the door behind him and I put up silencing charms so that no one in the hallway could hear what we discussed.

"Hello," I said cheerfully. "I suppose some of you are wondering why you're here, because you definitely didn't do anything to deserve this detention. You feel that you've been set up," I was mostly only talking to the Puffs and Claws right now, since the Gryffindors and Slytherins already knew some of what was happening. "You might be considering going to tell your head of house that the new defense professor's gone crazy, especially when I tell you that you've got detention with me four times a week for the rest of the year." I held up my hand to stop the protests about to come from the Puffs and Claws mouths. "Now you're _actually _ going to go to your head of house, but I'm going to ask you to consider something first."

I paused, gathering my thoughts. "I was eleven the first time I met Tom Riddle, who is also known as Voldemort. I was also eleven the first time I killed a man. Oh, I hadn't realised that I'd killed him, but it really didn't make a difference to me when I realised it several years later, because in my mind he'd made the choice to side with Tom and he'd had to pay the price for that choice.

"I was twelve the first time I killed a basilisk," There were gasps. I'd never even given a hint of this during class, and they were surprised. Also, I'd said it was the first time. Most people, when fighting basilisks, don't _get_ a chance for a second try. "I decided to kill the basilisk with a sword, an unpleasant experience that I don't recommend trying. Trust me, basilisk venom is painful."

"Isn't it also, well, _fatal?" _asked Karen incredulously.

"Well, normally yes," I said with a nod, "but I got healed by a phoenix, so I ended up being fine. That experience was also the second time I met Tom.

"When I was thirteen, there was no encounter with Tom, but I did learn the Patronus charm and fight off about a hundred dementors. The inside of a dementor's hood? One of the scariest things I've ever seen. I still get nightmares sometimes from that fight.

"When I was fourteen, I met Tom again, as well as a dragon, sphinx, several hundred merpeople with spears and tridents, and an Acromantula or two. That was the first time I experienced the Cruciatus Curse. However, I'm probably the only person who can say that they've out-flown a dragon.

"When I was fifteen, I met Tom again, a couple more dementors, and about thirty or so of Tom's followers. Other than that, I can honestly say it was a relatively uneventful year.

"The year I was sixteen was mostly uneventful, but I did fight some Death Eaters in June of that year.

"In contrast, the year is was seventeen was extremely eventful. I fought hundreds of Death Eaters, Tom about three or so more times, met Death himself, and most of my friends died.

"After that, my experiences become blended together - a never ending whirlwind of Death Eater fights and only barely evading Death. As nice as he was, I'm not in a hurry to meet him again anytime soon."

As I finished, there was silence. Some jaws were dropped. James looked like he wanted to hit something, and Sirius didn't look much better.

"I tell you this, not to cause you to be in awe of me or anything like that, but to prove that the Death Eaters and Tom won't wait for you to graduate, they won't wait until you become of age. They can and will strike at any moment. And you need to be prepared for them when they do."

I stopped to look each of the students in the eye. "I know how to kill Tom. I know his weakness. The fight against him will be long and bloody and there's a chance that you will end up dead. But you each have a gift, a unique talent. The blend of the talents contained within this room is what I think is the best way of killing Tom. However, my goal isn't to just stop there, my goal is to reshape the entirety of magical Britain. Magical Britain is the only magical country in the world that still believes in blood purity, and it needs to end. This belief is what allowed Tom to sow his seeds of discord and gain followers. And it _must _end. There are few, if any, laws protecting privacy, and there are very few who seek justice for those who break any laws. The law declares Muggles as little better than animals, but I ask you, how many animals have you seen create this?" I pulled a grenade that I'd been carrying out of my pocket, and flung it at the carefully warded mats. On the mats were about a hundred dummies (that weren't programmed to do anything other than stand there). When the dummies met the grenade, the dummies suddenly weren't there any more.

I faced the slightly stunned group again. "I ask you to make a commitment to me, right now, that you will help me. I ask you to swear that you will help me defend the innocent and restore the balance that has been lost. Magic by itself is neither Light nor Dark, it is the intent behind it that determines the connotation. If you don't wish to help, that's fine, no hard feelings. I only ask that you swear not to reveal everything that has been said tonight and then you can walk out that door and never look back. But to the rest of you," I looked at them, one by one, and finished, "I ask, are you with me, against me, or just one of the sheep?"

Speech spoken, I waited in the silence. It wasn't long before Sirius stepped forward and said, "I'm in."

His words were echoed by Regulus, who stepped forward mere seconds after his brother.

James came next, followed by Lily, then Frank, Alice, Peter, and Remus. Severus followed Remus, and Luke followed him. Carrie came next, then Karen and Edgar.

All of them said yes, and I knew we'd chosen well.

I smiled at them warmly, "Then follow me."

I led them to the first door to our HQ. Whispering the password, I led the group through the hall to the second door. After Sirius, who'd brought up the rear, closed the first door, I spoke the password loud enough that all of the people with me could hear it.

"Welcome," I said, "to our headquarters."

I led them to the the area of the room in between the infirmary and lab, which I had turned into a sort of sitting room type thing. There were enough couches and chairs for all of us, be sitting against the wall with the others facing me.

"Now, some of you know more than others about what my plan is," I said, "but some of you know nothing at all, so for now, I'm going to pretend that all of you know nothing and start from the beginning.

"My name is Alexis Potter. When we're meeting or if you're speaking to me about this business, you can call me Alexis. Any time you're speaking to me about school business, you need to call me Professor Potter. It's a pain, I know, but we have to make do, because can you _really _see Dumbledore and the Ministry allowing us to do this?" There were some head shakes at that.

"This room is, as I mentioned, our HQ. The password to the outer door is stupid git, and the password to the inner door is quincy. Both doors are warded so that the only people who can get in are us. Behind that wall, is our potions lab. Anyone, except Severus and Lily, who can brew without blowing anything up, should try and brew some healing potions during their spare time because we are inevitably going to get injured during our missions. Severus and Lily, I've got a more important assignment for you that we'll talk about later.

"In that corner of the room is our Portkey point. As far as I can tell, the only reason that you shouldn't be able to Portkey in is if you are dead. I have Portkeys for you to wear that I will hand out after we get to the exciting stuff. The activation word for them is 'balance'.

"Behind us is the infirmary that I sincerely hope we never need to use.

"The trunk against that wall is the library trunk. Help yourself to anything you want from that trunk." The eyes of Lily, Remus, Severus, Luke, and Karen all lit up at that.

"The trunk that is opposite it is the weapons trunk and the trunk next to it is the explosives trunk. I've warded it so only I can get in, so don't even try.

"I think that covers the boring tour-y stuff that I'm obliged to tell you before we get started on the fun stuff. I have some assignments for each of you.

"Lily and Severus, I have here," I passed them each a box, "duplications of Salazar Slytherin's personal notes, which I came across on Saturday. I want you two to go through them and figure out what's useful, what can be altered to be useful, and all of that lovely stuff. I won't be able to help you because I only barely passed my Potions NEWT, so you're more or less on your own. If you need any additional ingredients, don't hesitate to ask, I'll get them for you somehow. If it asks for either basilisk venom or blood, that's in the basilisk hide bag in the weapons trunk. Make sure you wear the pair of basilisk hide gloves that I've given you with those journals.

"Carrie, I've heard you can speak languages that are supposed to be dead?" She nodded proudly. "Well, I came across this text in a cave a while back," in my original timeline, "that I'm sure says something important, as it was protected with quite a few… creative and painful traps, but I can't read it. This is a copy of it. If you want to look at the original, it's in an airtight room of the library trunk.

"Luke and Remus, I have a bunch of Muggle communications devices that I need you to make work around magic. If you need something, let me know and I"ll get it for you.

"Edgar and James, I'm giving you two one of the most important tasks. Edgar, your sister is head Auror, and James, your dad is head of DMLE. I want you to try and get them on our side, fighting with us, and give them information about what's happening here at Hogwarts. I'll let you know what type of information to send on. We might not pass on all of it, but we'll pass on the important stuff when it's right to do so. You'll also be in charge of recruiting those at the Ministry that will be on our side, figuring out who's neutral and who's either Death Eater, one of the Dumbledore sheep, or just generally not going to go along with what we hope to accomplish.

"Karen, I need you to do more or less the same with your cousin who works for the Prophet. Also try and get him to pass along the information that they don't print. It could be useful. Try and find out which of the Professors will ally themselves with us, as well as the students. Work with Regulus on that.

"Regulus, I want profiles done on every student who might have Death Eater sympathies or connections. When you're done that, do the rest of Hogwarts.

"Sirius, Frank, and Alice, you're going to be tracking Death Eaters. I'll teach you the basics and point you in the right direction, but after that you'll be on your own. Try to analyze their movements so we can predict their attacks. When Remus and Luke finish with the communications stuff, they can help you analyze.

"That's what will need to be done during the weeks, unless I tell you otherwise. We meet here twice during the week for an hour each time. I'll let you know if we aren't meeting. No matter what, we'll be meeting on Friday and Saturday at ten pm for about four hours."

"But that's after curfew," Lily objected.

"Yes, but it would look suspicious to have you all spend so much time in detention with me, wouldn't it? We can't have anyone getting suspicious at this point in time. This is when we'll do all of our training. I'm not sending any of you out until I'm certain you won't die."

I thought for a moment. "What was I saying? Oh yeah. I have four more things on the agenda tonight, then you can go. First, we need a name. Any ideas, anyone?"

There was a brief silence while they thought about what I'd asked them.

"What about 'Shadow Army?" asked Carrie after a moment. "We can call it the SA if we have to. I just thought it was appropriate because we'll be fighting from the shadows and as a group no one will expect."

"I like it," James grinned.

"So, we're in agreement then?" There were nods all over the room. "Alright, the SA it is. Next task is going to be a little bit harder. The maps on the walls around the room are going to be used to track Death Eaters and their sympathizers. What I need you guys to do is figure out how to track them, _without _getting every other citizen of Europe on the map. I'll let you think about that and you can let me know your ideas when we meet on Tuesday at eight, okay?"

They nodded and I noticed Remus was looking thoughtful.

"Next on our list is uniforms. The SA has two primary uniforms, and I'm hoping to get you all a vest that can be worn under your clothing to repel magical attacks. I went out during my free periods today and purchased about three hundred yards of Dragon hide. I've combined the dragon hide and basilisk hide to create something that will block literally everything except the Killing Curse. I've tested it on the dummies, and I'm pleased with the results. I've decided to line the inside of the vests with silk so you can wear them without any danger of chaffing and they are pretty thin, so you should be able to wear them under your clothes. They're pretty lightweight and could save your lives during a fight.

"That's our 'everyday cover'. Our stealth uniforms are all black and have as many protection runes as I can safely stitch in as possible. They are attached to this mask using a tricky little spell a friend of mine," Hermione, "created by accident. Basically, it ties the clothes into this mask, as well as some pretty complex glamours so that no one will recognize you. The best part is, the only one who can take it off is you." I put the mask on, and I was immediately wearing the stealth uniform. The mask was black with gold inlay around the eyes. It didn't have an elastic, it just fused to my head. My hair became straight (if it wasn't already black it would have become black as well) and braided itself. My skin became darker and if I were looking in the mirror I wouldn't have been able to see my eyes.

"That is _so _cool," breathed Carrie in awe.

"I plan to create a mask for each of you," I said with a distorted voice, "but I'm going to need your measurements. We'll also need code names, but that will come later. We have other things to do now." I pulled off the mask and my appearance reverted to how it had been before. I picked up another mask, this one dark blue with silver inlay. I had specifically designed the masks so that a colour from each of the houses was present, so no one could tie us to any specific house. "This is our combat mask. I've again fused dragon and basilisk hides together and lined it with Acromantula silk. There's also a very thin layer of clothing on the inside." I put on the mask. My disguise was the same as before, only with the combat uniform.

I pulled off the mask and said, "If you just give me your measurements, I'll get to work on the uniforms as soon as I can. It might be a while before they're complete, but I'll try to be quick."

I put the masks away and said, "Now, the last thing on our list involves a little field trip. I'm going to give you your Portkeys now, just so that you can get back if we run into trouble. Some of you might know this, but most of you probably don't. When you purchase your wand from Ollivander, he records the signature of that wand and sends it to the Ministry. This is known as the Trace. This Trace partially wears off, I suppose, when you turn seventeen and you are able to do magic whenever you want as long as you obey the International Statute of Secrecy. However, part of the Trace remains and this enables the Ministry to perform Priori Incantatem, or the prior incantation spell. This spell allows the Ministry and others to see the last twenty or so spells you've cast. Since some of the spells we might be casting are slightly illegal, I'm going to take you to get wands that don't have the Trace on them. I'd do this anyway, since some of us are still underage and will be for some time."

"So, we're basically getting illegal wands," said Sirius flatly, but with a touch of something in his eyes that let me know he was only teasing.

"Of course," I said brightly. "Since I was eleven I haven't gone a year without breaking some major law."

I passed out the Portkey necklaces and then said, "I've made arrangements to meet with an acquaintance of mine who makes illegal wands. We'll go in and he'll figure out your wood and core, then we'll have to come back. Next week I'll meet with him and pick up your wands. Keep using your Ollivander wands for school work and such, your new wands are for SA business only. Now, touch the Portkey, everyone."

Everyone touched the Portkey and I activated it. When we landed, we were in a dingy shop located in a corner of Knockturn Alley.

"Hello, Alexis," said a raspy sort of voice from the shadows.

"Hello Ricardo," I said with a small smile. "It's good to see you again."

"And you as well. You've only grown more beautiful since we last spoke."

"We last spoke a few hours ago, Ricardo," I said with an indulgent smile and a laugh. "I don't see how I could possibly become more beautiful in that short a time period."

"Ah, but it is you. You are always breaking the laws of magic itself," he said with a wry smile.

"I don't mean to," I protested. "It just sort of… happens. However, we're on a tight schedule, so let's get started. Ricardo, this is the Shadow Army. SA, this is Ricardo."

"Right, now line up and reach toward the first barrel. Then move to the second barrel and repeat the process. When you have finished that, bring me your ingredients and write your name on a piece of parchment so I know which ingredients are yours."

"Don't worry about security issues, guys," I added. "Ricardo may be… shady, but we can trust him."

"Ah, your words mean much to me, my girl."

"Stop flattering me, Ricardo," I rolled my eyes. "It won't get you anywhere."

After each member had finished picking their woods and cores, I had them Portkey back to the SA room to start on either their individual projects or the map project. Once James, the last person to pick, had left, I activated my own Portkey and entered the room to see a group of very productive individuals. Severus and Lily were no where to be seen, and I assumed they were either in the lab or the library trunk. James, Edgar, and Karen were conversing in a small circle of armchairs they'd moved together and were making notes on several pieces of parchment laying on a desk they had Transfigured. I made a mental note to get each member their own desk. It would certainly make things easier. Carrie was pouring over the documents I'd given her on another Transfigured desk, while Regulus was starting to compile notes on those of Death Eater loyalties on yet another Transfigured desk. Remus and Luke seemed to be discussing Runes to use that would make our communicators work around magic. Sirius, Frank, and Alice were making a list of some kind (I later found out is was a list of known and suspected Death Eaters).

The sight of our collective brain power working together to end the war warmed my heart. Even at the height of the war in my own timeline, there had never been anything like this. There had been, instead, a series of groups that all had the same goal, but were not united enough to achieve that goal. I was so proud of them.

I headed over to the maps and started marking down the locations of Death Eater strongholds that I could remember, as well as where the Horcruxes had been hidden in my own time. I had no idea if they were there now, but it couldn't hurt to try these places first. Which reminded me - the diadem was at Hogwarts.

**(A/N: There you go, another chapter. I'll keep this short because I'm running a little late, but thanks to all those who've reviewed/favorited/followed, and please continue to do so!)**


	10. Chapter 9

It was nearly ten pm on Saturday night. The SA was due to start arriving any time now. I didn't have much hope of actually accomplishing anything today, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to try.

Slowly, the SA started drifting in. I knew this would be the case - they could hardly leave all at once, it would draw too much attention.

When the entire group had arrived, I welcomed them. "Good evening, it's good to see you again. I have a spell I'm going to teach you quickly now, and then I'm going to take you to our training room. It's a room that I don't think anyone really knows about and is highly magical, so I think it will do for our training."

I then taught those who didn't know it the Disillusionment Charm.

"Now, I want you all to start running every day. James, you're Quidditch captain, try to persuade Madam Hooch to start a physical fitness club on the grounds that it will help the Quidditch players in their game. If we can get that, then you should all join. If we can't get that, it's all right. There may be rules about what time you have to be in bed, but there's no rule about the time you're allowed to leave in the morning."

I instructed them all to Disillusion themselves and then showed them the way to the Room of Requirement. Asking for a hidden place to train that no one else could get into, I opened the door that appeared, entered, and canceled my disguise. As the other members entered, they also canceled their spells. When the last person entered, Alice, the door closed and disappeared.

"This is the Room of Requirement. It can become anything you want, the trick is you have to close all the loopholes. For example, tonight I asked for a hidden room that we could train in that no one else could enter. There's only one thing the Room can't do, and that's break Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration. Now, before we start tonight, are there any questions?"

"Yeah, I've got one," said Lily. "How did you get basilisk blood and venom that was so fresh? Sev and I did some diagnostic spells and I was just wondering."

"Oh, well I kind of killed a basilisk last Saturday," I said casually.

There was silence.

"How can you say that so casually?" burst out Carrie suddenly. "I mean, it's a _basilisk!_ And, from what you've said, it's the _second _one you've killed! You _have _to tell us how you did it!"

Don't you just love teenagers' use of italics?

"Well, um, alright. The first time, I was twelve and I did it the hard way. You know, with a sword. I actually got bit and if it weren't for a Phoenix friend of mine, I would be dead. Last week, I used a rooster."

"Wow," said Karen and the others nodded.

"Any other questions?" I asked quickly, wanting to get the topic off of my past 'heroics'.

There was silence for a while, before I decided to move on.

"Right, tonight I'm going to go over what you're going to learn. We can't start with any spells yet because Ricardo hasn't finished the wands so any magic we do will be tracked. However, we can start with some of the other stuff we need to learn. We'll be covering the Muggle way of fighting and how to use some of the weapons that I've been finding. I have some high powered explosives and a few other Muggle weapons. I know how to use all of them, even if I'm not always that good with them. For example, archery? Not my strong point. Dagger throwing? _That _I can do." I guess it's not only teens who like to use italics. "I'll give you a chance to try all of them, but that'll be a little further down the road. Now, this is your last chance to ask me questions before I start the lesson."

"Are you going to let us use Muggle guns?" asked Alice curiously.

"Um, I don't currently have any. I suppose I could get some, if you wanted them."

"My dad goes hunting with some of his Muggle friends and he taught me how to use one. I'm actually a pretty good markswoman."

"Well, I'll have to get you a gun so you can show us how it's done. Let me know the model before you leave tonight, alright?" Alice nodded. Internally I was surprise. I had _not _known that about Alice. I wondered what Neville would think, if he'd known. "Any last questions?" No one spoke up and I decided to begin the lesson. "Alright, so first we need to…"

At one o'clock, I stopped the kids and sent them back to their dorm rooms for some well-earned rest. I reflected on the session. It had gone well - really well. It was just further proof to me, not that I needed any that I'd chosen well for my group.

Arriving back at my own rooms, I collapsed on my bed and fell asleep.

The next afternoon, there was a staff meeting, mostly to go over any concerns the staff might have about the new first years. I wondered if I had ever been mentioned in the staff meetings in my own time? Well, other than by Snape - he'd mention me every time just for being "arrogant" like my father.

After discussing the first years, none of which seemed to be having any problems other than the usual getting lost type things, so I thought the meeting would be over quickly. Dumbledore asked if there was anything that anyone wanted to go over and Rolanda Hooch said, "Albus, the Gryffindor Quidditch team is wondering if they might form a physical fitness club." Wow, James could move fast when he wanted to! "I'm willing to run it if you'll give permission for it."

"Yes, that sounds excellent," said Dumbledore serenely. "You have it. When do you want to start?"

"I think I'll have it ready to go for next Saturday," estimated Rolanda.

"Alright, let me know when you're ready and then we can give the Prefects the announcement to put on the bulletin boards."

"If I might make a suggestion?" I said. When Dumbledore nodded, I continued. "I think we could make the club open to everyone, not just those on the Quidditch teams. I think we might get better attendance if we did that."

"That's an idea," said Rolanda thoughtfully. "If I get an enthusiastic response, will you help me supervise?"

I nearly winced. Waking up early and dealing with teenagers was _not _on my list of things I wanted to do. "Sure, just let me know if you need help."

Minerva said, rather suddenly in my opinion, "I hope our dreaded defense curse doesn't strike again. My Gryffindors love you and I haven't had any complaints about your teaching style or content."

"Some of my Ravens have come and asked if there's a way to spend more of their time in Defense," said Filius with a chuckle.

"My Puffs love the way you've organised the class with the minimum homework and majority practical work," nodded Claire.

"I've had a few complaints," admitted Horace, "but they are mostly from the children of the Blood-Purity enthusiasts. The rest love you."

I smiled shyly. "If I don't suffer any adverse effects from being Defense professor, I do want to keep working here. I love teaching and I do need a permanent job."

"I think part of it is your no-nonsense approach to the class," said Minerva thoughtfully. "What was it you had Sirius Black doing?"

"I had him brewing cleaner for Mr. Filch," I said with a smirk. "I told him that since he seemed to enjoy scrubbing floors so much, he might as well brew the cleaner to do it."

The staff members chuckled in appreciation.

"You haven't had any trouble from any students?" asked Dumbledore, concerned.

"Just minor things," I shrugged, "mostly from the pranksters Claire warned me about."

The staff meeting broke up soon after that and Horace stopped me before I could leave. "Be careful," he said quietly. "There are rumors in Slytherin house that some of the older students might try to… take care of you."

"Don't worry about me," I said with a smile. "I have hope that everything will turn out the way it was meant to."

"But still," said Horace very seriously. "You need to be careful. I've heard rumors in the kitchens, mutterings from the portraits. I've heard enough to piece together some of what you are doing. I'm with you all the way and will help however I can, and so are Minerva, Filius, and Claire, but remember: you're playing a dangerous game, Alexis. Be careful that you don't get hurt."

**(A/N: There's another chapter for you! We've got a little foreshadowing at the end, remember that, 'cause it'll be important later. Thanks again to all those who've favorited/followed/reviewed and please continue to do so!)**


	11. Chapter 10

My brief conversation with Horace gave me a lot to think about. So much so, that I was still thinking about it on Tuesday.

I started the meeting by asking if anyone had anything to report. Regulus stood up and said, "There are rumors in Slytherin house that some of the older Blood-Purists might try and take you out, Alexis."

"I know," I said calmly. "Horace told me on Sunday at the staff meeting."

"What are you going to do about it?" asked James in worry.

"Nothing," I said.

"Nothing?" Carrie questioned.

"Nothing," I confirmed.

"I understand why," said Alice softly. "They're minor nuisances at best, and we have bigger things to worry about. Also, you have Regulus and Sev to keep an ear to the ground and warn you."

"We might not always be able to hear about things, though," objected Severus.

"Albus Dumbledore won't remove them on the grounds of they need his guidance to turn from the Darkness to the Light. However, we all know that isn't going to happen. Even if they did attack me and let's say they even manage to injure me, Dumbledore still won't let them be expelled as is proper because he will want to give them a second chance."

"He is blind," said Karen sadly. "He is blind to the imperfection and stubbornness that is human nature. And it is us that pays the price for his blindness."

"It will take something big for Dumbledore to admit that he's wrong," I said. "And even then I don't know that I will want to work with him. He has become the Light Lord, much like Tom Riddle is the Dark one."

"And you, you are the Grey Lady," said Frank. "We follow you, but we are not your followers. We are your equals, and you think of us like that. That is the difference between you and Dumbledore and Riddle."

"I can't use the Grey Lady, that's the Ravenclaw ghost's title," I objected jokingly.

"Well, I think we have a new task, everyone," said Sirius, continuing the joke. "We need to find a way to refer to Alexis that shows her status as our leader and her dedication to grey."

"Really, that's not necessary," I tried to object, but the others ignored me.

"In other news," said Remus, "Lily and I have been talking, and we're pretty sure that we've come up with the way to track the Death Eaters."

"Oh?" I asked, interested at once. "Let's hear it, then."

"Alright," Lily began. "Basically what we've come up with is a version of the tracking charm used by parents on their children. Alexis, you know what the magic of the Dark Mark feels like, right?" I nodded.

"Well," Remus continued, "we think that if you cast the spell we've designed on each of the maps, the Death Eaters will show up as black dots."

"That's brilliant," I said as Lily handed me the sheet with their calculations written on it.

"We aren't certain it will work," said Remus.

"I'll try it tonight when we're finished, but I have a couple reports to make and then a story to tell you. My first report is that the physical fitness club is go, and should be starting on Saturday. Remus, Lily, Carrie, Luke, you should all be getting notices to put up in the common rooms."

"Great!" cheered Edgar excitedly.

"My next report has to do with some of the teachers here. Apparently, we've been discovered." There were gasps of horror at this, and Alice's hand flew to her mouth. "Horace, Minerva, Claire, and Filius know some of what we've been up to, and want in. My question is, do we let them help?"

"I think," said Luke, speaking for the first time that night, "that we need some way of ensuring that what we do doesn't get back to Dumbledore. If we can manage that, then I think we should. Having allies at the school could be extremely beneficial in the long run, just in case things go very badly and Alexis either has to run or the defense curse kicks in."

"I agree with Luke, especially about the part about keeping secrets," said Edgar with a firm nod.

"Have you guys heard of the Fidelius charm?" I asked as a thought struck me. The kids nodded. "Well, what if we used something similar to the Fidelius charm that doesn't protect property, it protects secrets? We could have each of us be Secret Keeper for different things that we discuss and do. That way, if one of us gets captured, then the Death Eaters or Dumbledore doesn't get all of our secrets."

"That's an idea," said Remus thoughtfully.

"What if it were tied into a Rune that we all wore?" asked Luke. "I learned during my internship about a Rune that works similar to the Fidelius charm."

"Well, you guys think about it, and I will to, and we'll discuss things when we have another meeting or some new ideas," I said. "Are there any other reports?"

"I've got one," said Edgar. "I discreetly contacted my sister and she's willing to help us, but she said we'd have to be careful because she knows there's some moles in her department, she just doesn't know who."

"My dad said much the same thing," said James. "He just hasn't agreed to help us yet. I haven't even really broached the subject."

"I think," I said thoughtfully, "we'll need to get the Ministry into a position where they really are making and enforcing the laws, but are being balanced about doing so. Removing the prejudice completely will help as well, but I don't know that that's possible at this point. We at least need the upper level department heads to be unprejudiced."

"A lot of the prejudice was started by Minister Bagnold," said James.

"So if we removed her and probably most of her staff, then we can put in a Minister that will ally themselves with us, and we will be able to work more openly. We'll still have to be careful, but we'd have legal backing," I said as I thought. "Okay, our first big project is going to be the Ministry. We need to get to the point where the people working there aren't able to support anyone other than sanctioned Ministry approved groups."

Alice gasped as she saw where my thoughts were headed. "That would mean not the Death Eaters or Dumbledore, but if we succeed they could work for us!"

"Exactly," I said, proud that she had proved why she was part of my strategy team.

"We'd need to plan well in advance who we wanted for Minister," said Regulus thoughtfully. "That sort of thing isn't easy."

"Yes, it will have to be someone who's worked at the Ministry a long time, is already in a position of some power, and will work with us," said Lily thoughtfully. I could tell that her, mine, and Alice's thoughts all reached the same conclusion at about the same time.

Alice turned to James. "How do you think your dad would feel about being Minister, if he agrees to work with us?"

James just gaped.

"Well, setting that aside for another time," I said, "I want to tell you a story, and I want to finish it tonight. It's a long story, though, so it will probably go into next week. Before I start that, new assignments. Keep working with the stuff I gave you on Friday and start thinking about our Ministry take-over. Also try and think of some ideas for our improved Fidelius charm ward/Rune. Anything else? Um… Oh, I have some new translations for you, Carrie, when you're done with what you have now, so let me know when you're ready for them. James, keep working on Charles and see if you and Edgar can get a list of suspected Death Eaters in the Ministry. I might be able to confirm or add names to the list. Lily, Severus, Remus, and Luke, do you guys need any new ingredients or materials?"

"We need some copper wire," said Luke, "about fifty yards should do."

"And we need some platinum - as much as you can get us," added Remus.

"Right," I said, "I'll send Miza to go see what we can find. Copper wire shouldn't be a problem, platinum might be a different story, but I'll try. Severus, Lily, you two are good for ingredients?'"

"Ingredients, we're fine. If you could pick up some crystal phials and three size two cauldrons that would be great," said Sev after a moment of thought. Lily nodded in agreement.

"What material should the cauldron be made of?"

"Can you get two stainless steel from America?" asked Lily almost pleadingly.

I blinked. "That might be a little tricky, but I'll see what I can do. Does it have to be American?" 

"Yes," said Sev with a nod, "stainless steel doesn't have any magical properties at all, so it's best for very volatile potions. We want American because the only other country who makes them is Switzerland and they're cauldron market is notorious for having shallow-bottomed cauldrons."

"Right," I said, "I'll do my best. What do you want the third cauldron to be made of?"

"If you can get three stainless steel, that would be amazing, but we also need a gold cauldron for other potions that need the stability of the magical properties gold possesses."

"Okay," I said with a nod. "I'll do my best. Any other requests for supplies from anyone?"

"Can you get us a set of three-way connected journals?" asked Frank as he gestured to him, Alice, and Sirius. "It'll make it easier to keep all of our notes together and communicate when we're in different classes and such."

"Yep, I'll put it on my really big shopping list," I said. "I've got a quick note. Thursday's meeting won't be like tonight, we'll have a quick reporting time, and then you can work on your projects at your leisure. So, just make sure you come prepared for that. I plan on measuring you on Thursday as well, so I can start on uniforms. Now, I'm going to tell you guys my story now." I was nervous. No, actually. Nervous isn't a strong enough word for the sheer terror that I felt.

I was going to tell them the truth about me.

**(A/N: Sorry for missing the update last week! I meant to, and then I just didn't remember until Saturday, and decided just to wait until today.**

**Thanks as always to those who have favorited/followed/reviewed and please continue to do so!)**


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